A Longitudinal Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Counselor Burnout Inventory in a Sample of Professional Counselors Using Item Response Theory

Objective: We examined the longitudinal psychometric properties of the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) using item response theory with a sample of 590 counselors. Method: We analyzed the response scores of the CBI of three timepoints at six-month intervals in a one-year period. We specifically examined model fit, item-level, and person-level data. Results: We found that counselor burnout was a stable construct across the three timepoints and generally identified continuum of counselor burnout. We also identified item-level issues for specific items at each timepoint, including disordered thresholds. While the CBI was generally well-targeted for participants, we also identified some misfit, suggesting the items may not adequately capture counselor burnout for some participants in this study. Conclusion: We provide additional context for the use and interpretation of test scores associated with the CBI as a measure of counselor burnout, including for whom the scores may or may not be well-targeted.