The purpose of this study was to determine levels of stress and burnout among Ohio certified high school athletic trainers and to compare stress and burnout levels based on gender, geographic location, location of practice, years of experience and age.
This study used two surveys: the Athletic Trainer’s Issues Survey and the Maslach Burnout Survey. These surveys were given to Ohio certified high school athletic trainers in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA). A link to the survey in Survey Monkey was emailed to participants three times over the course of a month in an attempt to increase the response rate. The response rate was approximately 35 percent.
The data was then entered into SPSS. One-way ANOVA’s were run to examine the differences in stress and burnout based on geographic location and location of practice. A t-test was used to determine whether or not there were differences between males and females in either stress or burnout levels. Finally, Pearson correlations were run to examine the relationships between number of years of experience and age with stress and burnout levels. No statistically significant differences or relationships were found.
Extended research on this topic would be of benefit to the athletic training field. A larger number of participants may increase the sensitivity of the statistical analyses to find statistical significance if there truly are any differences or relationships between the variables examined. Additionally, different populations of athletic trainers could be studied to determine whether there are differences in stress and burnout levels based on the type of population groups athletic trainers work with. Health education programs aimed at reducing the stress and burnout levels of high school athletic trainers are needed since chronic stress can lead to a variety of health conditions and decreased effectiveness on the job.