Distinct psychological correlates of burnout dimensions among healthcare workers

Abstract

Objective: Burnout is a multidimensional construct consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Although psychological distress and psychological resources have both been linked to burnout, less is known about their differential associations with specific burnout dimensions. This study aimed to examine the associations of psychological symptom levels, fear of COVID-19, psychological resilience, meaning in life, and gratitude with the dimensions of burnout among healthcare workers. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 104 healthcare workers employed at a university hospital. Participants completed self-report measures assessing burnout, psychological symptom levels, fear of COVID-19, psychological resilience, meaning in life, and gratitude. Pearson correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. Results: Psychological symptom severity was independently positively associated with emotional exhaustion, whereas psychological resilience was independently negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. Presence of Meaning and psychological resilience were independently negatively associated with reduced personal accomplishment. Depersonalization showed a different and more mixed pattern, and the psychological variables entered in the final step did not collectively account for a statistically significant increment in explained variance. Fear of COVID-19 was not independently associated with any of the three burnout dimensions. Conclusion: The findings indicate that burnout dimensions may show partly distinct patterns of association with psychological and demographic characteristics. Psychological distress and lower resilience were particularly associated with emotional exhaustion, whereas lower Presence of Meaning and lower resilience were associated with reduced personal accomplishment. Findings regarding depersonalization were more mixed and should be interpreted cautiously. These results support examining burnout dimensions separately and warrant confirmation in larger and longitudinal studies.