The relationship between, burnout, personality, and emotional intelligence in clown doctors

Despite increasing interest in healthcare clowning, especially to evaluate its effectiveness in a large variety of settings, no investigations have been oriented toward exploring the potential risks associated with burnout in clown doctors. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between personality traits, emotional intelligence, and burnout and to predict the burnout levels of 160 Italian clown doctors. The multiple linear regression findings showed that the best predictor for emotional exhaustion was neuroticism and for personal accomplishment were consciousness and emotional intelligence, while no correlations were found between the variables taken into account and depersonalization. These findings highlighted how specific personality traits are linked to different dimensions of job burnout and were discussed in the context of clown doctors' burnout.