Research suggests that social workers experience burnout at elevated rates; however, no study has developed an average rate of burnout among general social workers and quantitative research on the topic is lacking in general. This study conducted a systematic review and synthesis of the existing literature on burnout among social workers in order to (1) identify average burnout rates among social workers; and to (2) confirm previous findings showing differences between social worker groups by area of employment. A quantitative secondary data methodology was used that included self‑report data from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that contained both cross‑sectional and longitudinal data. The sample was obtained by parsing data from 17 of 379 studies that met inclusion criteria. Included studies utilized both random and non‑random sampling strategies to provide data on 4391 participants.
","abstract_html":"<p>Research suggests that social workers experience burnout at elevated rates; however, no study has developed an average rate of burnout among general social workers and quantitative research on the topic is lacking in general. This study conducted a systematic review and synthesis of the existing literature on burnout among social workers in order to (1) identify average burnout rates among social workers; and to (2) confirm previous findings showing differences between social worker groups by area of employment. A quantitative secondary data methodology was used that included self‑report data from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that contained both cross‑sectional and longitudinal data. The sample was obtained by parsing data from 17 of 379 studies that met inclusion criteria. Included studies utilized both random and non‑random sampling strategies to provide data on 4391 participants.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kimes, Austin Taylor"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Social Work","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"School of Social Work","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lizano"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:53:00Z","subjects":["Burnout","social workers","Social Work"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/398","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lizano"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kimes, Austin Taylor"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-06-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Social Work"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Social Work"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Burnout","social workers","Social Work"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/398"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Research suggests that social workers experience burnout at elevated rates; however, no study has developed an average rate of burnout among general social workers and quantitative research on the topic is lacking in general. This study conducted a systematic review and synthesis of the existing literature on burnout among social workers in order to (1) identify average burnout rates among social workers; and to (2) confirm previous findings showing differences between social worker groups by area of employment. A quantitative secondary data methodology was used that included self‑report data from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that contained both cross‑sectional and longitudinal data. The sample was obtained by parsing data from 17 of 379 studies that met inclusion criteria. Included studies utilized both random and non‑random sampling strategies to provide data on 4391 participants.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["BURNOUT RATES AMONG SOCIAL WORKERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lizano"],"dc:creator":["Kimes, Austin Taylor"],"dc:date.available":["2016-06-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research suggests that social workers experience burnout at elevated rates; however, no study has developed an average rate of burnout among general social workers and quantitative research on the topic is lacking in general. This study conducted a systematic review and synthesis of the existing literature on burnout among social workers in order to (1) identify average burnout rates among social workers; and to (2) confirm previous findings showing differences between social worker groups by area of employment. A quantitative secondary data methodology was used that included self‑report data from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that contained both cross‑sectional and longitudinal data. The sample was obtained by parsing data from 17 of 379 studies that met inclusion criteria. Included studies utilized both random and non‑random sampling strategies to provide data on 4391 participants.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/398"],"dc:subject":["Burnout","social workers","Social Work"],"dc:title":["BURNOUT RATES AMONG SOCIAL WORKERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Social Work"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Social Work"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:53:00Z"}