HKIER

Abstract

Little is known about the level of burnout in counseling trainees and factors that may mediate burnout such as nationality and social support. To further our understanding, trainee counselors enrolled in a postgraduate counseling program taught in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong completed demographic and social support measures (Miller Social Intimacy Scale and the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale) and the three subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment). Overall, while burnout scores were within the normal range, Hong Kong trainees reported higher scores than Australian and Singaporean trainees. Regression analyses revealed that loneliness and younger age were significant but weak predictors of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment while loneliness was a significant but weak predictor of depersonalization. Based on the findings, the need for supportive strategies to reduce loneliness, such as trainee peer support groups, was discussed.

摘要

現時，我們對輔導學員的枯竭程度，以及引致枯竭情況的可能因素（例如國籍、社會支持等），仍然所知甚少。本研究以在澳洲、新加坡及香港修讀輔導碩士課程的學員為對象，透過填寫米勒氏「社交親密量表」和加州大學洛杉機分校「寂寞量表」，了解學員的背景特徵及社會狀況。此外，學員亦需填寫梅姿萊絲「枯竭量表」中關於「情緒耗竭」、「非人化」及「個人成就」等三個部分。整體來說，三地學員的枯竭程度均在正常水平。此外，回歸分析顯示，「寂寞」和「年齡」這兩個因素雖然與「情緒耗竭」和「個人成就」關係密切，但前者並不能作為後者的有力預測；同樣，「寂寞」和「非人化」的關係亦如是。基於以上結果，本文討論到是否需要在輔導課程中安排一些支持和紓解學員寂寞情緒的元素（例如朋輩支援小組）。