Personality traits associated with occupational 'burnout' in ABA therapists.

Background: Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapists typically work one-to-one with children with autism for extended periods of time, which often leads to high levels of job-related stress, lower levels of job satisfaction, increased frequency of occupational 'burnout' and higher than average job turnover (Journal of Autism Development, 39, 2009 and 42). This is particularly unfortunate, in that these vulnerable clients need stability and consistency in care, both of which are empirically related to clinical outcomes (Journal of Autism Development, 39, 2009 and 42). It is reasonable to assume that some individuals, by virtue of their personal characteristics, are better suited to this type of work than are others.