Roles of Self-Compassion and Coping Strategies in Burnout Among Catholic Clergy and Religious in Benue State, Nigeria
This study investigated the roles of self-compassion and coping strategies on burnout among Catholic clergy in Benue state, Nigeria. Burnout was conceptualised on its three dimensions, namely: emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and depersonalisation. Similarly, coping strategy was conceptualised on its three dimensions, namely: avoidance-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and task-focused coping. Participants were 256 Catholic clergies conveniently drawn from Gboko Diocese in Benue State, Nigeria. They were made up of 145 (56.6%) males and 111 (43.3%) females, with the age range of 26-60 (M = 33.48, SD = 7.30). Three instruments were used to measure the constructs in this study, namely: Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey, Self-compassion Scale, and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Short Form). Data was analysed using the stepwise multiple regression analyses in SPSS® 26. Results of the study showed that self-compassion was not a significant predictor of emotional exhaustion among clergy in Benue State, but positively predicted personal accomplishment and depersonalization. Avoidance focused coping was not a significant predictor of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment among clergy in Benue State, but positively predicted depersonalization. Task focused coping was a significant negative predictor of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization among clergy in Benue State but did not significantly predict personal accomplishment. Emotion focused coping was a significant positive predictor of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization among clergy in Benue state, but not significantly predict personal accomplishment. The implications and limitations of the study were discussed, and suggestions for furthers researches were outlined.