The Relationship of Social Support and Communication Competence to Burnout

Joann Johnson

Winona State University

 The healthcare field has expanded drastically in the past decade and is in high

demand. By 2018, social service jobs are predicted to grow by 16.8% (Lacey & Wright,

2009). With such high demands of the job, many employees are likely to experience job

burnout. Job burnout is not only within the caregiver field, but can extend out to all jobs

relating to high stress situations, and human services and jobs that call for on the spot

emotional regulation. Working within the health care field has high demands and puts

employees under extreme stress, physically and emotionally. Reported in 2016, there

were over 2.5 million community and social services workers in the United States. Many

of caregivers and human services providers depend on substances to help with depression

and work environment (Labor of Bureau Statistics, 2016). Research found a link between

burnout and substance abuse (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001).

This is not just happening to a few people around the United States but all over

the world within and outside the heath care field. Ewing and Smith (2003), as cited by

Pillay and Wilss (2005), found that 25% to 40% of teachers within the United States quit

due to burnout (Pillay & Wills, 2005). Though healthcare work is not only physically and

emotionally draining, employees stay working until they physically cannot. When health

care workers stay at their job, though they are struggling, it causes poor quality in their

work performance, negative outlooks on their co-workers and diminishes their personal

connection with the job (Wright, Bernard & Banas, 2009). Caregiver and client

interactions are important, especially when having to deal with an emotionally

unpredictable client. When staff are emotionally exhausted and unsupported by co-

workers and the organization, it can cause caregivers to burnout quickly, and ultimately

has a negative effect on the client(s) that they serve (Wallance, Lee, & Lee, 2010).
 Turnover of human service employees has been of serious concern for health care

fields. Sabine Geurts, Wilmar Schaufeli & Jan De Jonge (1998), as cited by Barak, Nissly

& Levin (2002), turnover rates are projected to be over 60% in each given year for

human service workers. High turnover rates can have a negative affect on the company

and a negative impact on the clients the company serves (Baulfour & Neff, 1993). High

turnover rates can add to clients mistrust towards people in their life and the system.

Along with negatively impacting the clients, turnover often discourages workers from

staying within the field.

Companies that provide services to children are affected in two different ways.

Firstly, these companies cannot provide effective services to their clients because they

continually have to find individuals who can provide quality care for those children or

adults who need it. Secondly, high turnover is costly, time consuming and unproductive

for companies (Baulfour & Neff, 1993). Turnover negatively affects companies, families,

communities and clients. Burke & Richardsen (1993); Cordes & Dougherty (1993) as

cited by, Lee & Ashforth (1996) states that there are major resources to decrease the

likelihood of turnover due to the demands of work. These include, social support in

various ways, job enhancement opportunities, participation in decision majoring and

autonomy.

Stress, communication competence and burnout will be discussed in terms of

what they mean conceptually. The hypothesis is that there is a relationship between

perceptions of social support and communication competence and employee burnout in a

human service field. This review will describe the psychological and physiological
effects of stress and burnout on individuals, as well as the role that social support and

communication competence play in reducing burnout.

Burnout researchers have studied burnout within the workplace and found that

communication competence and social support can alter the likelihood of burnout

(Wright, Bernard, & Banas, 2009). Wright, Kreps, Miller, and Maslach have completed

research in this area and found a high correlation between social support from co-workers

and management and the reduced likelihood of burnout in addition to their knowledge of

the work they are assigned to do (Wright, Banas, Bessarabova, & Bernard, 2010). The

two main factors are social support and communication competence in relation to the

likelihood of burnout. Social support is, the existence or availability of people on whim

we can rely, people who let us know that they care about, value and love us (Sarason,

Levine, Basham & Sarason, 1983). Larson, Backlund, Redmond, and Barbour (1978), as

cited by Wiemann and Backlund (1980), state that communication competence is defined

as, The ability of an individual to demonstrate knowledge of the appropriate

communicative behavior in a give situation(Wiemann & Backlund, 1980, p.16).

Communication competence also has as five main components; they are interaction

management, empathy, behavioral flexibility, affiliation and social relaxation (Wright,

Banas, Bessarabova, & Bernard, 2010). All five are taken into consideration when talked

about in the literature.

The outcome of low levels of social support and communication competence is

burnout. Burnout is the detached feeling an individual feels towards his or her job and,

lastly, lowered personal accomplishment is when an individual feels he or she is not

doing a satisfactory job and doesnt feel he or she can achieve the goals set for him or her
in the workplace (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Burnout consists of three

common factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lowered personal

accomplishment (Brown & Roloff, 2015). Emotional exhaustion is the feeling of being

drained, depleted and unable to effectively support clients. Depersonalization affects the

individuals view of the clients they care for. Maslach 1982 (as cited by Miller, Stiff and

Ellis, 1988), viewing other people through rust- colored glasses- developing a poor

opinion of them, expecting the worst from them, and even actively disliking them

(Miller, Stiff & Ellis, 1988, p.4). This means that individuals, who start to feel burnout,

dont see the positive aspects of the job; instead they start to distance themselves and

focus on the bad aspects of the job. Within occupational settings, depersonalization is

highly correlated with exhaustion and likelihood of burnout (Maslach, Schaufeli &

Leiter, 2001).

Social Support

Ellis and Miller (1994) discuss how support can be given in three different ways:

informational, instrumental and emotional. Within informational support the individual

receives training in a certain area of their job (i.e. physical intervention training). The

second type of support is instrumental; in this kind of support the individual can obtain

resources within the workplace and get assistance if needed from other staff members.

The last support method is emotional support. In this the individual feels a bond with

other staff members and therefore can trust them. Studies indicate that emotional support

is a highly valuable communication tool for staff (Ellis & Miller, 1994). When

instrumental resources are provided effectively, it allows the individual better cope with

stressful situations that occur throughout the day (Heaphy & Dutton, 2008).
 Social support has a lot to do with how stressed an individual feels at work. When

individuals feel like they are socially supported, they also indicate a lower level of stress.

Stress within the workplace is nothing that is unfamiliar to individuals. According to the

American Psychological Association (2008), (as cited by du Pre, 2013), in 2009, 69% of

workers said that work accounted for most of the stress in their life (du Pre, 2013).

Maslach and colleagues found a correlation with individuals who burnout and an array of

different substance abuse problems (Malach, Schaufel & Leiter, 2001). Work stress

within the health care/ human service field can come from many variables. To work

within a human service job, an individual may have to work with individuals with

ADHD, bipolar disorder, OCD and other high behavioral diagnoses, providing support,

helping to deescalate a problem, changes in behavior and much more. Caregivers have to

create a balance between helping clients and maintaining their own emotions (Snyder,

2012). This kind of work requires a significant amount of emotional labor, which can be

draining for individuals who are not supported within their work environments.

When stress is high and perceived social support is low, individuals within jobs,

specifically healthcare and human service fields, burnout. When an individual starts to

believe that work is unpleasant, they have a loss of accomplishment, mentally drained

and depersonalization within job duties (Wright, Banas, Bessarabova, & Bernard, 2010);

they are experiencing typical signs leading to burnout. Workplace social support has a

positive correlation to wellbeing among individuals within an organization. (Brown &

Roloff, 2015); Boren (2014) states that social support is one of the most beneficial

buffering techniques for stress, especially for individuals who are experiencing any type

of workplace stress. Maslach and colleagues found that, when individuals felt a lack of
support by management and especially other staff, they had more job stress, leading to

burnout (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). As stated before, stress can have an impact

on perceived social support. Not everyone who is under stress at work burns out; it

depends on the individual and his or her level of stress. But it has been shown that the

more individuals feel that they are worth something to an organization and have those

social ties, the less likely an individual is to burnout due to stress. Researchers also found

that when individuals felt that they couldnt make decisions within the organization and

received little to no feedback from supervisors, they were more likely burnout due to the

three dimensions (i.e., depersonalization, exhaustion, and loss of accomplishment)

(Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). In a study done by Miller, Zook and Ellis (1989),

(as cited by Ellis & Miller, 1994), Miller and colleagues found that co-worker support

significantly diminished the levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization

individuals felt towards their job, but didnt have a significant impact on the feelings of

personal accomplishment (Ellis & Miller, 1994). All components of social support play a

role in reducing the likelihood of burnout. Evidence that was gathered in a British study

found that surgeons had a higher stress level than other fields of work, yet their burnout

rate was significantly lower due to their social ties, respect by others and their experience

(Ramirez et al, 1996).

Communication competence

Communication competence focuses on an individuals skill and knowledge

within the work place. Communication competence is a fluid term, meaning that there is

not one way to define or perceive it as a caregiver. Larson, Backlund, Redmond, and
Barbour (1978) define communication competence as, The ability of an individual to

demonstrate knowledge of the appropriate communicative behavior in a give situation

Competence is also dependent on the individual and if they feel they are

competent enough. Mcroskey and colleagues describe the controversy over the definition

over communication competence in relation to Humpy Dumpty, in Alice in Wonderland

(McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988). Meaning that, individuals can interpret it and define it

to the context is it being studied. Individuals who lack perceived communication

competence experience more stress on the job and also lack a sense of social support

within their jobs; therefore, this increases the likelihood of burnout.

As stated earlier, communication competence in regards to how scholars define it

conceptually, but how individuals perceive their competence of their job is also fluid.

McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988). The notion that individuals can perceive their

competence is higher than what it is leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words,

what the individual believes for a long period of time, in this case the notion that they

understand and are knowledgeable in their field of work, they do in fact become better. A

limitation to this is that the individual may feel competent, but if a situation arises that

they are not actually knowledgeable in, it may cause the individual to feel stress, and

helpless. A snowball effect to this is that it could cause the client they are serving to

notice and react more to the high intensity situation.

Higher levels of job burnout are correlated with lower level of communication

competence (Wright, Bernard & Banas, 2009). Kreps (1988), (as cited by Wright,

Bernard, & Banas, 2009), states that communication competence increases social

support, satisfaction, information exchange and cooperation (p.354) (Wright, Bernard &
Banas, 2009). This means that when individuals feel a lack of competence, they feel a

lack of informational, instrumental and social support.

Psychological and Physiological Effects

A lack of social support leads individuals to feel stress within the work

environment. This stress can often leads to negative effects to the individual body. There

are two types of stress that affect the human body. Good stress is stress that isnt long

lasting, is manageable, and leaves the individual feeling like they gained something. Bad

stress is when the stress is long lasting, the individual doesnt feel in control of the

situation and they feel emotionally and physically drained (McEwen, 2007). Higher

cognitive areas of the brain assist in the regulation of anxiety in the brain and manage

how individuals react to stressful situations. There are two ways the body reacts to stress.

The first way, an acute manner, the body releases a chemical called catecholamine, which

increase blood pressure and heart rate. The second way is that the body releases this same

chemical, but it is chronic elevation (McEwen, 2007). The stress that your body senses

isnt for a short period of time, but over a long period of time. When these chemicals are

continually being stimulated in the body for long periods of time it can affect the

cardiovascular system, which in turn can result in health conditions, such as a stroke or

heart problems (McEwen, 2007). Heaphy and Dutton (2008) found that there was a

correlation between heart rate and blood pressure in individuals who experienced positive

social interactions within the work environment. Other studies cited by Heaphy &

Dutton, (2008) found there was a positive correlation between social support and heart

rate (Heaphy & Dutton, 2008). There are many factors that contribute to burnout

including stress; these negative factors cause insomnia, heart disease and fatigue (Miller,
Stiff & Ellis, 1988). All of these negative effects on the body due to stress also

contribute to anxiety, depression and other health problems.

H1: As perceptions of social support increase, reported levels of burnout decrease.

Isnt supported

H2: As perceptions of communication competence increase, reported levels of

burnout decrease. 100% supported

H3: People who have higher perceived communication competence also perceive

that they have social support

Conclusion

In this literature review, burnout is a consequence of either low levels of social

support or low levels of communication competence. Research on social support and

communication competence are continuing to grow and expand to other fields of work.

When individuals in the workplace are able to control their stress, they are able to re-

group and be not only physically there with their client but mentally. This control of

stress manifests when the individual has a sense of social support and displays confidence

with the knowledge that they have about their work. Stress factors at work are more

manageable if the employee feels that he or she is being supported and completing tasks

that are important (du Pre, 2015). Perceived social support and perceived communication

competence determine the outcome of burnout. Individuals who perceived they have

communication competence within their job demonstrate conscious initiative towards

seeking social support( i.g informational, instrumental and emotionally) (Wright,

Bernard, & Banas, 2009).

 Jobs within the health care/ human services are only expanding. With a growing

field, scholars will have to continue to advance the type of research done within

communication competence and social support in relation to burnout. Both social support

communication competence affect how individuals bodies handle stress. The negative

aspects to all three of the variables have negative consequence on mental health (Dreison,

Luther, Bonfils & Sliter, 2016). Individuals within the healthcare field deal with high

emotional, high intensity and high stress situations, so there is a higher change for them

develop depression (du Pre, 2015).

Research hypothesizes that an increase in perceived social support and

communication competence will decrease the likelihood an individual will be to burnout.

There is a significant problem with burnout in the health care field. With continued

research and studies, there can be a global impact on burnout in not only health care

fields but also job employment fields across the board.

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