Pastoral Psychology

, Volume 57, Issue 5–6, pp 243–252 | Cite as

The Oswald Clergy Burnout Scale: Reliability, Factor Structure and Preliminary Application Among Australian Clergy

Article
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Abstract

This study assesses the Oswald Clergy Burnout Scale (OCBI), the psychometric properties of which have not been previously described. Analysis of responses from a large number (N = 3,012) of ministers in charge of Australian congregations showed that the scale’s internal reliability was satisfactory, and that the scale could be represented by two factors, identified, respectively, as the personal and social aspects of burnout. This structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Several demographic and job-related variables that might relate to burnout were regressed on the total, personal and social factor scores. Age is the predominant (negative) predictor of burnout as measured by the total scale and the personal factor scores. All variables predict burnout as measured by the social factor. However, in all models, the predictor variables account for no more than 5% of the total variance. These findings suggest that demographic factors and working conditions are poor predictors of burnout among clergy.

Keywords

Burnout Clergy stress Confirmatory factor analysis Oswald Clergy Burnout Inventory 
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Notes

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, Institute of EducationUniversity of WarwickCoventryUK
  2. 2.Welsh National Centre for Religious EducationBangor UniversityBangorUK
  3. 3.NCLS ResearchSydney SouthAustralia

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