Risk and protective factors impacting burnout in bilingual, Latina/o clinicians: An exploratory study

While there is a paucity of information in the research examining the training and professional experience of bilingual, Latina/o clinicians who provide mental health services in Spanish, a growing body of research has highlighted a series of challenges unique to this group of providers, including their concerns about burnout due to such challenges. This exploratory study is the first (to the best of our knowledge) to measure the levels of burnout among these clinicians and to examine the interrelationship between burnout and sociodemographic and individual characteristics. The extent to which these clinicians experience the challenges identified in previous studies was also investigated. Participants included 66 bilingual, English-Spanish, Latina/o clinicians. The results suggest that bilingual, Latina/o clinicians endorse lower degrees of burnout relative to their monolingual, English counterparts and that specific sociodemographic and individual characteristics influence burnout. Furthermore, the results support previous research findings highlighting the unique set of challenges encountered by these clinicians. Understanding the characteristics and dynamics that contribute to and protect against burnout has major implications for the training, support, and retention of bilingual, English-Spanish, Latina/o psychologists.