EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCHOOL COUNSELORS’ DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES, LEADERSHIP SKILLS, WELLNESS, BURNOUT, AND TURNOVER INTENTION

In recent years, school counselors and education have faced an increase in mental health challenges, which has had adverse effects on school counseling (Marraccini et al., 2023). Seventy-six percent of state counseling coordinators report insufficient school counselors available to fill positions (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2023b). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023) estimates that 26,600 jobs per year will become available for school counselors, career counselors, and advisors over the next 10 years due to attrition and retirement from the profession.
This nonexperimental, correlational design explored the relationships between the volunteer school counselors’ (N= 56) developmental stage and perceived leadership behaviors, wellness, burnout, and turnover intention. The linear regression results revealed that school counselors’ years of experience predicted their leadership related to systemic collaboration and turnover intention. When exploring leadership behaviors, linear regressions found that counselors’ interpersonal skills predicted their perceptions of wellness and burnout, and systemic collaboration and resourceful problem-solving skills predicted a counselor’s level of burnout regarding their feelings of incompetence. Also, the participants’ professional efficacy predicted wellness and incompetence. Finally, social justice had a statistically significant relationship with incompetence and devaluing clients. The results of this study show moderate to strong relationships amongst select variables. The results, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.