Self other perceptions, hopelessness and burnout in critical care anaesthetists
Beatrice Raggio, Roberto Cutajar
The purpose of this study is to identify, in critical care physicians, the specific kinds of relationship
attributable to patterns of adult attachment, according to Self/Other perceptions, in relation to
hopelessness and burnout.
Nine Attachment Profile (9AP), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)
were administered to 50 critical care anaesthetists aged between 29 and 61 years from September
2011 to January 2012.
We verified that those who had a high level of burnout showed a low Self/Other perception, while
the dimension of hopelessness was substantially independent. In addition, a high level of burnout
corresponds mostly to disorganised and avoidant attachment.
The evidence of the prevalence of burnout in critical care anaesthetists, and relationship specificities
are indicators of emotional instability and disorganised attachment; therefore it would be necessary
in this context to intervene specifically in order to reduce emotional breakdown and avoid
depersonalisation phenomena.
Keywords
Self/Other perception, Hopelessness, Burnout, Attachment, Assessment.
