Objectives: Temperamental traits are indicated as some predictors of occupational burnout. At the same time, researchers emphasise that the importance of temperamental features for occurrences of burnout syndrome in medical staff is dependent on numerous intermediary variables, including ways of handling problematic situations. The overarching aim of presented studies was to examine whether styles of coping with stressful situations mediate relationships between temperamental traits and particular components of occupational burnout in psychiatric nurses.
Methods: The study examined 60 women working in the psychiatric health care sector. Three psychological methods were employed in this research project: (1) Strelau Temperament Inventory by Strelau and Zawadzki (STI); (2) Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations by Endler and Parker (CISS); (3) Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS).
Results: Conducted analyses allowed to confirm the mediating role of task style and emotional style in relationship between temperamental traits (briskness, perseveration, emotional reactivity, sensory sensitivity, activity) and occupational burnout. In the case of avoidance style there are no grounds to consider it as a mediator in the area of analysed dependencies.
Conclusions: Providing psychiatric nurses with help: (1) should focus more on strengthening task style, rather than on rising awareness regarding the harmfulness of avoidance tendencies in the area of coping; (2) what seems important is developing the ability to experience negative emotions revealed in contacts with patients in a creative way.
Keywords: burnout syndrome; coping styles; temperamental traits.