The Predictive Value of Emotional Intelligence in Explaining Burnout among Psychologists A Comparative Study between Therapists of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Those without Children

Abstract

The Our study aimed to determine whether emotional intelligence can serve as a predictor of burnout among psychologists, while also comparing the effect of this variable according to the treated group (children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and those without) and the level of professional experience. To this end, a descriptive correlational comparative approach was used for predictive purposes. The study was conducted on a sample of 132 psychologists of various age groups. The first group consisted of therapists working with children diagnosed with Autism, while the second group included therapists working with children without this diagnosis. All participants worked in public healthcare institutions in Algiers and its surroundings. In this study, we applied the Emotional Intelligence Scale by Salovey and Mayer and the Maslach and Jackson Burnout Inventory, both tools were adapted to the Algerian context. The results showed that emotional intelligence is a statistically significant explanatory variable for burnout among psychologists treating children with Autism. However, the same effect was not observed among therapists of children without the disorder. The findings also revealed significant differences in burnout levels between the two groups, with higher burnout among therapists working with children with Autism. This reflects the specific pressures associated with working with this population..