Longitudinal associations between COVID-19 burnout and mindfulness among counsellor candidates: a two-wave cross-lagged study

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing body of cross-sectional research linking burnout and mindfulness, hardly any research has investigated the longitudinal relationship between these two constructs during the pandemic. The purpose of this research was to examine the bidirectional association between COVID-19 burnout and mindfulness in counsellor candidates. We employed a two-wave longitudinal design among Turkish counsellor candidates (M = 21.10, SD = 2.10). They completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the COVID-19 Burnout Scale. The cross-lagged analyses showed that COVID-19 burnout predicted longitudinal decreases in mindfulness. On the contrary, mindfulness did not predict changes in counsellor candidates’ COVID-19 burnout. These findings highlight the importance of targeting COVID-19 burnout in increasing mindfulness over the long-term.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 burnout
• mindfulness
• counsellor candidate
• longitudinal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and material

Data will be available on request.

Pre-registration statement

This study was not pre-registered.

Ethical approval

The study protocol has been approved by Artvin CoruhUniversity Scientific Research and Ethical Review Board. The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its following updates.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual adult participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by Artvin Çoruh University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Department. Project Number: 2021.S35.02.01.

Notes on contributors

Begum Satici

Begum Satici, PhD, is an associate professor of Psychological Counselling and Guidance at Yildiz Technical University. Her primary research interests include mindfulness, relationship satisfaction, behavioural addictions and educational-social-positive psychology concepts.