Abstract
Objectives. The global burden of burnout cost is in excess of $300 billion annually. Locally, just under half of working Australians experience high levels of occupational burnout. Consequently, burnout interventions are paramount to organisational productivity. Exercise has the potential to provide a multilevel and cost effective burnout intervention. The current study aims to extend the literature by comparing cardiovascular with resistance exercise to assess their relative effectiveness against well-being, perceived stress, and burnout.Design. Participants were 49 (36 females and 13 males) previously inactive volunteers ranging in age from 19 to 68 that completed a four week exercise program of either cardiovascular, resistance, or no exercise (control). Randomised control trial design was employed.Method. Participants were measured against the Subjective Exercise Experience Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory.Results. After four weeks of exercise participants had greater positive well-being and personal accomplishment, and concomitantly less psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion. Cardiovascular exercise was found to increase well-being and decrease psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion. Resistance training was noticeably effective in increasing well-being and personal accomplishment and to reduce perceived stress. The present findings revealed large effect sizes suggesting that exercise may be an effective treatment for burnout. However, given a small sample size further research needs to be conducted.Conclusion. Exercise has potential to be an effective burnout intervention. Different types of exercise may assist employees in different ways. Organisations wishing to proactively reduce burnout can do so by encouraging their employees to access regular exercise programs.
Highlights
BURNOUT, PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS, AND MULTILEVEL INTERVENTIONSIn a study covering America, Asia and the Middle East, Golembiewski et al (1998) found that 60% of public sector and 40% of private sector employees reported high levels of burnout
Participants were randomly allocated to three conditions: control (n = 20), cardiovascular exercise (n = 20), and resistance exercise (n = 9)
Cardiovascular exercise tended to be better than resistance exercise when it came to reducing psychological distress
Summary
BURNOUT, PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS, AND MULTILEVEL INTERVENTIONSIn a study covering America, Asia and the Middle East, Golembiewski et al (1998) found that 60% of public sector and 40% of private sector employees reported high levels of burnout. Psychological stress describes an interaction between an individual, their work environment, and other external influences (Malone et al, 1997). Psychological stress is understood to occur when there is a substantial perceived imbalance between demands placed on the individual, and perceived response capability, and is aggravated in situations where failure to meet the demand has perceived adverse consequences (Malone et al, 1997; Thorsteinsson, Brown & Richards, 2014). Effective coping is measured based on emotional reactions and cognitive functioning in response to the stressor, in a fluid process dependent on evolving work demands and a fluctuating personal outlook (Lazarus, 2000; Malone et al, 1997). Lazarus (2000) articulates that this is a cognitive-motivational-relational theoretical concept of appraisal based on individual differences (both intra- and inter-individual), whereby an individual constructs relational meaning from the person-environment relationship, social and physical influences, personal goals, self-belief, and available resources and subsequently makes an assessment of ability to cope based on his or her perceptions of demand compared to capability
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