Abstract
The aim of this work is to study the personality factors and coping styles of Spanish dentists when facing burnout syndrome, through epidemiological work. An epidemiological study of 1928 Spanish dentists was undertaken through an online survey, which registered the age and gender, and three questionnaires: NEO-FFI (personality traits), Brief COPE (coping styles), and MBI-HSS (burnout questionnaire). A multivariate analysis and an explanatory binary logistic regression model were used to estimate the presence of burnout. Neuroticism turned out to be the strongest indicator (OR 1.10; IC 95% 1.09–1.14), while extraversion (OR 0.93; IC 95% 0.91–0.95) and agreeableness (OR 0.94; IC95% 0.92–0.98) showed an inverse relationship with the occurrence of burnout, as did age (OR 0.9; IC95% 0.96–0.99). Conscientiousness (OR 1.0; IC95% 1.00–1.06) had a direct relationship with the presence of burnout. An avoidant coping style was the only indicative coping style (OR 1.04 IC95% 1.02–1.06). Approximately 70% of the dentists scored high on one of the three dimensions of burnout. No differences were found in the degree of burnout according to gender. Certain personality factors (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), the avoidant coping style, and age are powerful indicators to attempt to forecast the presence of burnout syndrome in dentists.
Highlights
Despite the term having been in use for many years, a multitude of definitions of burnout syndrome exist, to the extent of having found 142 different definitions after a recent systematic review; this highlights the lack of consensus [2,3]
It is unavoidable to consider the interaction that is established between the elements of the work environment and the aspects related to the psychological variables themselves
Taking into account that burnout could be a response to stress resulting from poor management of coping strategies, we found published results that supported the link between emotion-focused coping and emotional exhaustion and between emotional coping and reduced personal accomplishment, [54,80,81] but not the present results
Summary
A useful definition could be that burnout syndrome represents a complex condition with a multifactorial origin in which the person’s psychological, labor, and relational processes are involved, as well as the mechanisms available to cope with these chronic interpersonal work demands that are perceived as excessive, exceed the resources of the affected individuals, and cause a negative response that reduces wellbeing. This syndrome carries serious consequences for the psychological wellbeing of staff and affects morale and organizational functions at work [4]. It is known that professions which require intense contact with other people, such as healthcare workers, teachers, and carers, are more prone to stress and burnout syndrome [5,6,7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
