The Mechanisms of Coaching in Reducing Burnout: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion and Emotion Regulation

Assignment Instructions
Write a complete introduction including a general introduction, research question, complex theoretical background, and the research model/expectations/hypotheses, reference list.

Make sure it is written academically, neutrally, and very understandable, take the reader by the hand, and follow the scientific guidelines to write the introduction. Make sure everything is referenced correctly and also use the provided example introduction as a starting point and either use it as part of the introduction but then rewriten or write it in your own words. The theoretical framework needs to be implemented or maybe a different theoretical background or argumentation is also fine but then it still has to arrive at the following:

Research Question: Does Coaching work, and through which mechanisms? H1: Coaching Interventions reduce symptoms of burnout
H2: Coaching decreases symptoms of burnout through the mediating effect of self- compassion.

H3: Coaching decreases symptoms of burnout through the mediating effect of self- compassion and that effect is stronger for individuals who posses high emotion regulation capabilities.

The general structure of the introduction should follow this structure:

Who cares? (“So what?”) What is the topic or research question, and why is it interesting and important in theory and practice?

What do we know, what don’t we know, and so what? What key perspectives and empirical findings have already informed the topic or question? What major, unaddressed puzzle, controversy, or paradox does this study address, and why does it need to be addressed?

What will we learn? How does your study fundamentally change, challenge, or advance scholars’ understanding?

Then continue with the theoretical part and end with a research question and Hypotheses for the model below, the ones provided or it is also fine to put all Hypotheses into one or even add one if that is more feasible.

Example Introduction

“Physician burnout is not just about the doctors; it is about the patients who suffer when their caregivers are exhausted and overwhelmed” – Atul Gawande. Physicians in particular are suffering increasingly from stress and associated burnout. Burnout is when excessive work demands are associated with a loss of control for physicians, often attributed to long working days and high workloads (Shanafelt et al., 2009). Burnout as commonly referred to, consists of distinct dimensions: emotional exhaustion, feelings of cynicism, and detachment from work coupled with a sense of low personal accomplishment (Han et al., 2019). It is crucial to intervene when approximately more than 50% of physicians report symptoms of burnout in the US (Han et al., 2019). Additionally, the related decrease in the quality of the health services provided poses an added threat to everyone who is exposed to the unfit decision- making of a burned-out physician (Han et al., 2019),
To be able to decrease certain aspects of burnout or even all, there is a need for interventions that can help physicians to cope better with their work demands. For instance, through interventions such as physician coaching that happen to be effective and significantly decrease aspects of burnout. Despite these findings that coaching interventions seem to be effective there is a demand to fill the gap and to uncover which underlying mechanisms are responsible for the witnessed effects. It is crucial to thoroughly understand the underlying mechanisms that are the foundation of coaching effectiveness in order to achieve improved utilization of the intervention in the near future and also advance our expertise in that realm. When looking closely at the effects of coaching we can see that there has been an increase in positive traits such as self-compassion among other qualities. Self-compassion can be seen as a positive quality that can be developed within an individual, and that consists of three aspects, namely: mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity (Barnard & Curry, 2011). Generally, coaching can be viewed as a form of self-investment and is inherently a step towards self-improvement, thereby demonstrating self-compassion to a certain extent. Further, the increase in self-compassion by coaching seems to provide evidence that the mechanics of coaching could work through self-compassion. Research by Barnard & Curry (2011) shows

that self-compassion is associated with favorable outcomes in various domains such as emotions, thought patterns, accomplishments, and social relationships. However, those outcomes are first of all of a correlational nature, and therefore, causality cannot be confirmed. It is further questionable what the direction of those concepts is and whether self-compassion is the antecedent or the outcome. Nevertheless, these correlations provide initial support for the idea that coaching interventions subsequently influence self-compassion and could potentially lead to positive changes in related domains, that can buffer against burnout symptoms. That said, it will be necessary to explore what role does self-compassion play when certain resources are already high within an individual. Does Self-compassion benefit from, for instance, high emotion regulation capabilities? Exploring, if the relationship between coaching and a reduction in burnout symptoms increases or decreases its effects of coaching through self- compassion when possessing high resources such as emotion regulation. Investigating if there is a possible ceiling effect or a positive feedback loop that amplifies the effects. Hence, we aim to explore if self-compassion can be a possible mediator between coaching interventions and a decrease in burnout symptoms for high-resource individuals. For high-resource individuals, the focus will be on high levels of emotion regulation capabilities and how that influences the mediation. In conclusion, the overall goal is to explore how coaching mechanisms work in more detail.
Model:

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Theoretical Framework

JDR-Model as an explanation for the mediating effect of self-compassion between coaching intervention and a decrease in exhaustion
High emotion regulation ability can be seen as a resource (JDR)
Emotion regulation and self-compassion are correlated, therefore, the effects of self- compassion while having high levels of emotion regulation could identify the unique effects of coaching on exhaustion through self-compassion giving a clearer picture of the underlying mechanism of coaching
Further, it could be assessed how high of an increase in self-compassion can be achieved through coaching for individuals who are already resourceful (high emotion regulation) and if there is a positive feedback loop possible between two positive psychology qualities which could be triggered through coaching to reinforce each other 🡪 need of theory to support that idea
Further, some studies show a direction from self-compassion towards an increase in emotion regulation but others also show the opposing direction: “Scoglio et al. (2015) and Diedrich et al. (2017) looked at mediation models in opposing directions (i.e. where emotion regulation preceded self-compassion). Scoglio et al. (2015) found that both the severity of PTSD symptoms and emotional resilience independently influenced self-compassion through emotion dysregulation. In contrast, Diedrich et al. (2017) found that self-compassion did not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and depression” 🡪 There is a need for consensus!
“Transactional Model of Stress and Coping” by (Lazarus & Folkman, 2017), which suggests that stress emerges from the interaction between individuals and their environment and relates it to certain coping strategies that include emotion regulation and self-compassion for stress management and burnout prevention

References

Barnard, L. K., & Curry, J. F. (2011). Self-compassion: Conceptualizations, correlates, & Interventions. Review of General Psychology, 15(4), 289-

303. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025754
     Han, S., Shanafelt, T. D., Sinsky, C. A., Awad, K. M., Dyrbye, L. N., Fiscus, L. C.,
     Trockel, M., & Goh, J. (2019). Estimating the attributable cost of physician burnout in the United States. Annals of Internal Medicine, 170(11),
304. https://doi.org/10.7326/m18-1422
     Neff, K. (2003). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2(2), 85-
305. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309032
     Shanafelt, T. D., Balch, C. M., Bechamps, G. J., Russell, T., Dyrbye, L., Satele, D., Collicott, P., Novotny, P. J., Sloan, J., & Freischlag, J. A. (2009). Burnout and career satisfaction among American surgeons. Annals of Surgery, 250(3), 463-
306. https://doi.org/10.1097/sla.0b013e3181ac4dfd