A systematic review and a comprehensive approach to PhD students' wellbeing.

The pursuit of a doctoral degree is a challenging process that can have a negative impact on the wellbeing of PhD students. Therefore, the aim here is to offer a systematic review of the current state of the literature on wellbeing among PhD students and the variables it involves in order to build an integrative model that will enrich future research. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology for systematic reviews has been used to lay out the process in a flow diagram. We systematically review studies up to 2021 (N = 38) published on the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases. The results show the current state of the literature on wellbeing in PhD students, the characteristics of the studies (location, study design, and sample), how the literature defines the concept, the variables involved, the study limitations, and future perspectives to improve the quality of life of doctoral students. Finally, a comprehensive approach to the topic is presented in an integrative model that encompasses all variables identified in the literature and offers a guide for future research.

The ultra-short version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT4)-development, validation, and measurement invariance across countries, age and gender.

Given that burnout is a major problem in many societies and that employers are legally obliged to act in preventing job stress, there is a need of validated and reliable short self-report instruments. The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is developed to measure burnout as a syndrome with four core components (exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive and emotional impairment). So far, the BAT was tested in over 40 studies with encouraging results. Although a short, 12-item version of the BAT exists, there is need for an ultra-short version with even less items. The overall aim is to develop an ultra-short 4-item version of the BAT (BAT4) and to evaluate its construct validity using Rasch analysis in samples from various countries along with its measurement invariance regarding country, age and gender. The BAT4 was developed using mixed methods, i.e. combining the results from a Rasch analysis, a subject matter analysis and expert judgements. Construct validity was tested on data from national representative samples from eight countries (the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Japan) and in a pooled sample combing the data from all eight countries. Differential item functioning regarding age, gender and country was investigated. The BAT4 fulfilled all the criteria required by the Rasch measurement model to constitute a valid measure in the pooled and country specific samples, except Austria and Japan. In the pooled sample, measurement invariance between the eight countries as well as between gender and age was found. Analyses within different countries showed occasional gender and age DIF for some items. The results were promising regarding BAT4's construct validity and measurement invariance. Although the BAT4 includes only four items, its content coverage is acceptable. The BAT4 can be used as a short screening instrument for burnout complaints at the group or organisational level.

The burnout-depression conundrum: investigating construct-relevant multidimensionality across four countries and four patient samples.

This research seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the distinctive nature of burnout and depression. In a first study, we relied on employee samples from four European countries (N = 5199; 51.27% women; Mage = 43.14). In a second study, we relied on a large sample of patients (N = 5791; 53.70% women; Mage = 39.54) who received a diagnosis of burnout, depressive episode, job strain, or adaptation disorder. Across all samples and subsamples, we relied on the bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling to achieve an optimal disaggregation of the variance shared across our measures of burnout and depression from the variance uniquely associated with each specific subscale included in these measures. Our results supported the value of this representation of participants' responses, as well as their invariance across samples. More precisely, our results revealed a strong underlying global factor representing participants' levels of psychological distress, as well as the presence of equally strong specific factors supporting the distinctive nature of burnout and depression. This means that, although both conditions share common ground (i.e. psychological distress), they are not redundant. Interestingly, our results also unexpectedly suggested that suicidal ideation might represent a distinctive core component of depression.

Engaging leadership and nurse well-being: the role of the work environment and work motivation-a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare literature suggests that leadership behavior has a profound impact on nurse work-related well-being. Yet, more research is needed to better conceptualize, measure, and analyse the concepts of leadership and well-being, and to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying this association. Combining Self-Determination and Job Demands-Resources theory, this study aims to investigate the association between engaging leadership and burnout and work engagement among nurses by focusing on two explanatory mechanisms: perceived job characteristics (job demands and resources) and intrinsic motivation. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 1117 direct care nurses (response rate = 25%) from 13 general acute care hospitals in Belgium. Validated instruments were used to measure nurses' perceptions of engaging leadership, burnout, work engagement, intrinsic motivation and job demands and job resources. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the hypothesised model which assumed a serial mediation of job characteristics and intrinsic motivation in the relationship of engaging leadership with nurse work-related well-being. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit of the measurement model. The findings offer support for the hypothesized model, indicating that engaging leadership is linked to enhanced well-being, as reflected in increased work engagement, and reduced burnout. The results further showed that this association is mediated by nurses' perceptions of job resources and intrinsic motivation. Notably, while job demands mediated the relationship between EL and nurses' well-being, the relationship became unsignificant when including intrinsic motivation as second mediator. CONCLUSIONS: Engaging leaders foster a favourable work environment for nursing staff which is not only beneficial for their work motivation but also for their work-related well-being. Engaging leadership and job resources are modifiable aspects of healthcare organisations. Interventions aimed at developing engaging leadership behaviours among nursing leaders and building job resources will help healthcare organisations to create favourable working conditions for their nurses. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study described herein is funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme from 2020 to 2023 (Grant Agreement 848031). The protocol of Magnet4Europe is registered in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN10196901).

The Lithuanian version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-LT): psychometric characteristics of the primary and secondary symptoms scales.

The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is a new measure of burnout that was developed to address the shortcomings of existing burnout instruments. This study investigates the psychometric properties of the Lithuanian version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-LT). In total, 408 adult workers were surveyed (the mean age was 35.94 years; 68.6 per cent were female; 43.9 per cent held managerial positions). Participants came from different sectors of economic activity. The results showed that BAT-LT had good factorial validity, indicating that BAT-LT's four subscales (exhaustion, cognitive impairment, emotional impairment, and mental distance) can be combined into a single burnout score. Moreover, Cronbach's alpha values indicate good reliability for all six core and secondary burnout symptoms scales. Furthermore, the results confirmed that BAT-LT could be differentiated from job boredom, workaholism, work engagement and depression. Finally, measurement invariance across managerial status and the sector was observed. The results of this study provide solid evidence for BAT-LT's reliability and factorial and construct validity.

Implementing a complex mental health intervention in occupational settings: process evaluation of the MENTUPP pilot study.

BACKGROUND: According to the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework, the theorisation of how multilevel, multicomponent interventions work and the understanding of their interaction with their implementation context are necessary to be able to evaluate them beyond their complexity. More research is needed to provide good examples following this approach in order to produce evidence-based information on implementation practices. OBJECTIVES: This article reports on the results of the process evaluation of a complex mental health intervention in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tested through a pilot study. The overarching aim is to contribute to the evidence base related to the recruitment, engagement and implementation strategies of applied mental health interventions in the workplace. METHOD: The Mental Health Promotion and Intervention in Occupational Settings (MENTUPP) intervention was pilot tested in 25 SMEs in three work sectors and nine countries. The evaluation strategy of the pilot test relied on a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative research methods. The process evaluation was inspired by the RE-AIM framework and the taxonomy of implementation outcomes suggested by Proctor and colleagues and focused on seven dimensions: reach, adoption, implementation, acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility and maintenance. RESULTS: Factors facilitating implementation included the variety of the provided materials, the support provided by the research officers (ROs) and the existence of a structured plan for implementation, among others. Main barriers to implementation were the difficulty of talking about mental health, familiarisation with technology, difficulty in fitting the intervention into the daily routine and restrictions caused by COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: The results will be used to optimise the MENTUPP intervention and the theoretical framework that we developed to evaluate the causal mechanisms underlying MENTUPP. Conducting this systematic and comprehensive process evaluation contributes to the enhancement of the evidence base related to mental health interventions in the workplace and it can be used as a guide to overcome their contextual complexity. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN14582090.

What makes nurses flourish at work? How the perceived clinical work environment relates to nurse motivation and well-being: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Literature shows that the work environment is a main determinant of nurses' well-being and psychological strain; yet, the (psychological) mechanisms underlying this relationship remain understudied. OBJECTIVE: This study explored the underlying (psychological) mechanisms (why) and boundary conditions (when) by which characteristics present in the clinical work environment influence nurses' well-being. We investigated the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the relationship of job demands and job resources with burnout vs. work engagement. In addition, we examined if job resources strengthen the relationship of job demands with intrinsic motivation and burnout. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey study. SETTING(S): General acute care hospitals in Belgium (n = 14). PARTICIPANTS: Direct care nurses (n = 1729). METHODS: Data were collected by means of online questionnaires between October 2020 and July 2021. Study variables included burnout, work engagement, intrinsic motivation and a set of different job demands (workload, role conflicts, emotional demands, red tape) and job resources (performance feedback, autonomy, skill use, opportunity for growth, and value congruence). All variables were obtained using self-report measures. The central hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Job resources appeared to be a crucial factor for nurses' health showing positive associations with work motivation (ß = 0.513) and work engagement (ß = 0.462) and negative associations with burnout (ß = -0.216). Job demands remained an essential factor that harms psychological health and is associated with increased burnout (ß = 0.489). Our results confirmed that intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship of job resources with work engagement (ß = 0.170) and burnout (ß = -0.135). In addition, job resources moderated the relationship of job demands with burnout (ß = -0.039). Against our expectations, we found no associations between job demands and intrinsic motivation or a moderation effect of job resources on the respective relationship. CONCLUSIONS: A highly demanding work environment can be a source of significant stress which may put nurses' health at severe risk. Nurses who perceive sufficient job resources such as feedback, autonomy and opportunities for growth and development, are likely to feel intrinsically motivated at work. In addition, it will foster their work engagement and prevent them from burning out, particularly when job demands are high. REGISTRATION: The study described herein is funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program from 2020 to 2023 (Grant Agreement 848031). The protocol of Magnet4Europe is registered in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN10196901). TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Providing nurses with sufficient resources will not only increase their motivation and engagement at work but also reduce their feelings of burnout.

Outcome assessment of a complex mental health intervention in the workplace. Results from the MENTUPP pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Multicomponent interventions are recommendable to achieve the greatest mental health benefits, but are difficult to evaluate due to their complexity. Defining long-term outcomes, arising from a Theory of Change (ToC) and testing them in a pilot phase, is a useful approach to plan a comprehensive and meaningful evaluation later on. This article reports on the pilot results of an outcome evaluation of a complex mental health intervention and examines whether appropriate evaluation measures and indicators have been selected ahead of a clustered randomised control trial (cRCT). METHODS: The MENTUPP pilot is an evidence-based intervention for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) active in three work sectors and nine countries. Based on our ToC, we selected the MENTUPP long-term outcomes, which are reported in this article, are measured with seven validated scales assessing mental wellbeing, burnout, depression, anxiety, stigma towards depression and anxiety, absenteeism and presenteeism. The pilot MENTUPP intervention assessment took place at baseline and at 6 months follow-up. RESULTS: In total, 25 SMEs were recruited in the MENTUPP pilot and 346 participants completed the validated scales at baseline and 96 at follow-up. Three long-term outcomes significantly improved at follow-up (p < 0.05): mental wellbeing, symptoms of anxiety, and personal stigmatising attitudes towards depression and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this outcome evaluation suggest that MENTUPP has the potential to strengthen employees' wellbeing and decrease anxiety symptoms and stigmatising attitudes. Additionally, this study demonstrates the utility of conducting pilot workplace interventions to assess whether appropriate measures and indicators have been selected. Based on the results, the intervention and the evaluation strategy have been optimised.

Developing a framework for evaluation: a Theory of Change for complex workplace mental health interventions.

BACKGROUND: There is a gap between the necessity of effective mental health interventions in the workplace and the availability of evidence-based information on how to evaluate them. The available evidence outlines that mental health interventions should follow integrated approaches combining multiple components related to different levels of change. However, there is a lack of robust studies on how to evaluate multicomponent workplace interventions which target a variety of outcomes at different levels taking into account the influence of different implementation contexts. METHOD: We use the MENTUPP project as a research context to develop a theory-driven approach to facilitate the evaluation of complex mental health interventions in occupational settings and to provide a comprehensive rationale of how these types of interventions are expected to achieve change. We used a participatory approach to develop a ToC involving a large number of the project team representing multiple academic backgrounds exploiting in tandem the knowledge from six systematic reviews and results from a survey among practitioners and academic experts in the field of mental health in SMEs. RESULTS: The ToC revealed four long-term outcomes that we assume MENTUPP can achieve in the workplace: 1) improved mental wellbeing and reduced burnout, 2) reduced mental illness, 3) reduced mental illness-related stigma, and 4) reduced productivity losses. They are assumed to be reached through six proximate and four intermediate outcomes according to a specific chronological order. The intervention consists of 23 components that were chosen based on specific rationales to achieve change on four levels (employee, team, leader, and organization). CONCLUSIONS: The ToC map provides a theory of how MENTUPP is expected to achieve its anticipated long-term outcomes through intermediate and proximate outcomes assessing alongside contextual factors which will facilitate the testing of hypotheses. Moreover, it allows for a structured approach to informing the future selection of outcomes and related evaluation measures in either subsequent iterations of complex interventions or other similarly structured programs. Hence, the resulting ToC can be employed by future research as an example for the development of a theoretical framework to evaluate complex mental health interventions in the workplace.

The student version of the Burnout assessement tool (BAT): psychometric properties and evidence regarding measurement validity on a romanian sample.

The objective of the present research was to investigate the psychometric properties and the validity of the student version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) in a Romanian undergraduate student sample. A sample of undergraduate students (N = 399, 60,70% female) from a Romanian university completed the BAT and other measures used for assessing measurement validity. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the original factor structure of the BAT, and all scales showed good internal consistency. The validity of the BAT scales was supported by their strong associations with measures of depression, anxiety, stress, psychosomatic symptoms, prospective appraisal of future tasks, and coping strategies. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04232-w.

The job insecurity of others: On the role of perceived national job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Political scientists and sociologists have highlighted insecure work as a societal ill underlying individuals' lack of social solidarity (i.e., concern about the welfare of disadvantaged others) and political disruption. In order to provide the psychological underpinnings connecting perceptions of job insecurity with societally-relevant attitudes and behaviors, in this article the authors introduce the idea of perceived national job insecurity. Perceived national job insecurity reflects a person's perception that job insecurity is more or less prevalent in their society (i.e., country). Across three countries (US, UK, Belgium), the study finds that higher perceptions of the prevalence of job insecurity in one's country is associated with greater perceptions of government psychological contract breach and poorer perceptions of the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, but at the same time is associated with greater social solidarity and compliance with COVID-19 social regulations. These findings are independent of individuals' perceptions of threats to their own jobs.

How to assess severe burnout? Cutoff points for the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) based on three European samples.

OBJECTIVE: Despite decades of burnout research, clinical validated cut-off scores that discriminate between those who suffer from burnout and those who don't are still lacking. To establish such cut-off scores, the current study uses a newly developed questionnaire, the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) that consists of four subscales (exhaustion, mental distancing, and emotional and cognitive impairment). Separate cut-offs were computed for those at risk for burnout and those suffering from severe burnout for the original BAT-23 as well as for the shortened BAT-12. METHODS: Relative operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were carried out using representative samples of healthy employees from The Netherlands (N=1370), Belgium (Flanders; N=1403) and Finland (N=1350). In addition, samples of employees who received a burnout diagnosis were used (N=335, 158 and 50, respectively). RESULTS: The diagnostic accuracy of the BAT (area under the curve) ranges from good to excellent with the exception of mental distancing, which is fair. The country-specific cut-off values as well as their specificity and sensitivity are comparable to those of the pooled sample. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to country-specific cut-offs, general cut-offs can be used tentatively in other similar countries, pending future replication studies. Caution is warranted for using cut-offs for mental distance as the sensitivity and specificity of this subscale is relatively poor. It is concluded that the BAT can be used in organizational surveys for identifying employees at risk for burnout and, in clinical treatment settings, for identifying those with severe burnout, keeping in mind the tentativeness of the present cut-offs.

A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions of Job Insecurity?

Radical transformations in the current work model induce qualitative job insecurity (i.e., a threat to job characteristics) and strengthen quantitative job insecurity (i.e., a threat to job loss). Both dimensions are separate yet interdependent work stressors. Although organisational changes are often the core source for both types of job insecurity, it is predominantly a subjective experience-individual perception ultimately determines the risk and the consequences of these threats. So far, the between-person analysis suggests that the relationship between the two dimensions is in both directions. However, it is not clear whether these associations also reflect within-person processes. This study proposes and tests the reciprocal relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity at the within-person level. We employed a multiple indicator random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to test these associations within-person while controlling for between-person differences. We used three-wave longitudinal data (6 months' time lag) collected from a Belgian working population (N = 3694). The results suggest a unidirectional relationship (from quantitative to qualitative job insecurity). Furthermore, the results reveal significant within-person carry-over effects of quantitative job insecurity but not for qualitative job insecurity. Overall, these results suggest that a change in the experience of threats to job loss (i.e., higher-than-usual quantitative job insecurity) not only anticipates higher-than-usual threats to job loss (autoregressive paths) but also higher-than-usual threats to job characteristics (i.e., qualitative job insecurity), six months later. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on how job insecurity dimensions influence each other. Given these results and the continuous changes to how we work, we call for further research to better understand the within-person processes of job insecurity development.

Conceptualization and Validation of the Occupation Insecurity Scale (OCIS): Measuring Employees' Occupation Insecurity Due to Automation.

Increased use and implementation of automation, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, gives rise to a new phenomenon: occupation insecurity. In this paper, we conceptualize and define occupation insecurity, as well as develop an Occupation Insecurity Scale (OCIS) to measure it. From focus groups, subject-matter expert interviews, and a quantitative pilot study, two dimensions emerged: global occupation insecurity, which refers to employees' fear that their occupations might disappear, and content occupation insecurity, which addresses employees' concern that (the tasks of) their occupations might significantly change due to automation. In a survey-study sampling 1373 UK employees, psychometric properties of OCIS were examined in terms of reliability, construct validity, measurement invariance (across gender, age, and occupational position), convergent and divergent validity (with job and career insecurity), external discriminant validity (with organizational future time perspective), external validity (by comparing theoretically secure vs. insecure groups), and external and incremental validity (by examining burnout and work engagement as potential outcomes of occupation insecurity). Overall, OCIS shows good results in terms of reliability and validity. Therefore, OCIS offers an avenue to measure and address occupation insecurity before it can impact employee wellbeing and organizational performance.

Correction: Roll et al. Conceptualization and Validation of the Occupation Insecurity Scale (OCIS): Measuring Employees' Occupation Insecurity Due to Automation. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 2589.

There are some errors in the original publication [...].

The psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23) in South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is an increasing public health concern that afflicts employees globally. The measurement of burnout is not without criticism, specifically in the context of its operational definition as a syndrome, also recently designated as such by the World Health Organisation. The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23) is a new measure for burnout that addresses many of the criticisms surrounding burnout scales. The aim of this study is to determine the validity, reliability, and measurement invariance of the BAT-23 in South Africa. METHOD: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey, approach was taken (n = 1048). Latent variable modelling was implemented to investigate the construct-relevant multidimensionality that is present in the BAT. For measurement invariance, the configural, metric, scalar, and strict models were tested. RESULTS: The analyses showed that the hierarchical operationalisation of BAT-assessed burnout was the most appropriate model for the data. Specifically, a bifactor ESEM solution. Composite reliability estimates were all well above the cut-off criteria for both the global burnout factor and the specific factors. The measurement invariance tests showed that gender achieved not only strong invariance, but also strict invariance. However, ethnicity initially only showed strong invariance, but a test of partial strict invariance did show that the mean scores could be fairly compared between the groups when releasing certain constraints. CONCLUSIONS: The BAT-23 is a valid and reliable measure to investigate burnout within the Southern African context.

A workplace organisational intervention to improve hospital nurses' and physicians' mental health: study protocol for the Magnet4Europe wait list cluster randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: The increasing burden of mental distress reported by healthcare professionals is a matter of serious concern and there is a growing recognition of the role of the workplace in creating this problem. Magnet hospitals, a model shown to attract and retain staff in US research, creates positive work environments that aim to support the well-being of healthcare professionals. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Magnet4Europe is a cluster randomised controlled trial, with wait list controls, designed to evaluate the effects of organisational redesign, based on the Magnet model, on nurses' and physicians' well-being in general acute care hospitals, using a multicomponent implementation strategy. The study will be conducted in more than 60 general acute care hospitals in Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. The primary outcome is burnout among nurses and physicians, assessed in longitudinal surveys of nurses and physicians at participating hospitals. Additional data will be collected from them on perceived work environments, patient safety and patient quality of care and will be triangulated with data from medical records, including case mix-adjusted in-hospital mortality. The process of implementation will be evaluated using qualitative data from focus group and key informant interviews. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee Research UZ/KU Leuven, Belgium; additionally, ethics approval is obtained in all other participating countries either through a central or decentral authority. Findings will be disseminated at conferences, through peer-reviewed manuscripts and via social media. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN10196901.

Motivational Profiles in Unemployment: A Self-Determination Perspective.

In general, being unemployed has negative implications for the individual and the mental health of the public as a collective. One way to escape this situation is to search for a job. However, following self-determination theory (SDT), unemployed people's different reasons (i.e., their motivation) for engaging in a job search influence their well-being, attitudes, and behaviors for better or worse. Some research has already supported the associations between different types of motivation and these outcomes, but less is known about how these types of motivation simultaneously associate with these outcomes. The current study addressed this issue by studying how different motivational profiles had different implications for the affective experiences, commitment to employment, and job search behavior of the unemployed. Latent profile analysis, among 865 unemployed individuals from previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa, highlighted four distinct motivational profiles: motivated, ambivalent, amotivated, and unmotivated. The motivated reported some good well-being (i.e., positive experiences) and economic outcomes (i.e., employment commitment and job search), but these came at a cost (i.e., more negative experiences). The same went for the ambivalent, but to a lesser extent. Being unmotivated seemed to have the opposite effect in that it came with psychological benefits, but with economic costs, as these individuals might withdraw from the labor market. This also applied to the amotivated, although they experienced less psychological benefit than their unmotivated counterparts. The findings made several contributions to SDT and unemployment research and could help tailor interventions and policies for particular types of unemployed people.

Shortening of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)-from 23 to 12 items using content and Rasch analysis.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is related to huge costs, for both individuals and organizations and is recognized as an occupational disease or work-related disorder in many European countries. Given that burnout is a major problem it is important to measure the levels of burnout in a valid and reliable way. The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is a newly developed self-report questionnaire to measure burnout. So far, studies concerning the psychometric properties of the original version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) including 23 items show promising results and suggest that the instrument can be used in many different settings. For various reasons there is a need of a shorter instrument. For example, burnout questionnaires are typically included in employee surveys to evaluate psychosocial risk-factors, which according to the European Occupational Safety and Health Framework Directive, should be carried out in organizations on a regular basis. The aims of this paper are to develop a shorter version of the BAT, including only 12 items (BAT12) and to evaluate its construct validity and differential item functioning regarding age, gender and country. METHODS: Using data from representative samples of working populations in the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders) a shorter version of the BAT was developed by combining quantitative (Rasch analysis) and qualitative approaches (item content analysis and expert judgements). Construct validity of the new BAT12 was evaluated by means of Rasch analysis. RESULTS: In an iterative procedure, deleting one item from each subscale at each step, a short version of the BAT - BAT12 was developed. The BAT12 fulfils the measurement criteria according to the Rasch model after accounting for local dependency between items within each subscale. The four subscales can be combined into a single burnout score. CONCLUSION: The new BAT12 developed in the present study maintains the breath of item content of the original version of the BAT. The new BAT12 has sound psychometric properties. The scale works invariantly for older and younger, women and men and across two countries. A shorter version of the BAT is timesaving compared to the BAT23 and can be used in e.g. employee surveys.