Burnout and Coping: An Exploratory Comparative Study of Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Mental Health Practitioners

Abstract

This study examined differences in burnout and coping between heterosexual and sexual minority identified (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer) mental health practitioners (MHPs) living in the United States. Responses from 150 MHPs were collected via an Internet survey. A 2 × 2 ANOVA revealed that sexual minority men reported higher levels of burnout. An additional 2 × 2 ANOVA revealed that sexual minority MHPs scored lower on emotion-focused coping. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• burnout
• coping
• LGBQ
• mental health practitioner
• sexual minority