Consistency of the burnout construct across occupations

Abstract

This study assessed the extent to which a recently developed measure of burnout extended the concept of burnout as developed among human service providers to people in other occupations. The study replicated a factor structure derived from a study of aircraft maintenance workers, computer programmers, and administrators with staff in various occupations across two health care settings: a tertiary care hospital (N=3,312) and a residential mental health facility (N=417). Within the larger setting the analysis replicated the factor structure with four occupational groups: clerical/maintenance workers, technical personnel, nurses, and managers. The study found support for the validity of the scale through its consistency with the issues that participants raised in an open-ended questionnaire. Conceptual issues in burnout theory and suggestions for further research are presented.