OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to present the Polish version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-PL) by W. Schaufeli et al. and to assess its validity and reliability. The tool measures the core symptoms of burnout (BAT-C): exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive and emotional impairment, and its secondary symptoms (BAT-S): psychosomatic complaints and psychological distress. METHODS: The participants were 255 nursing staff members. The construct validity was assessed with a one-point job satisfaction scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale by Schaufeli et al. and the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale by van Katwyk et al. RESULTS: The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported an assumed bi-factor structure. This applies to both BAT-C as the four core symptoms and a general factor and BAT-S as a set of two secondary symptoms and a general factor. Both scales were strongly correlated with one another and differed from other measures of job-related well-being (job satisfaction, work engagement and negative emotions). The values of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability indicated BAT-PL as a reliable measurement tool. CONCLUSIONS: BAT-PL by W. Schaufeli et al. has good psychometric characteristics to be used in research on burnout and further validated in clinical practice.
Burnout, Professional , Humans , Poland , Reproducibility of Results , Burnout, Professional/diagnosis , Burnout, Professional/psychology , Burnout, Psychological , Emotions , Psychometrics/methods , Surveys and Questionnaires
The study examined the factor structure of burnout, as measured with the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. The participants were 235 employees of a public administration agency who assessed their burnout online for 10 consecutive working days. Two models were tested with multilevel confirmatory factor analysis, assuming the same one or two-factor structure at the within- and between-person levels. Both models showed a reasonable fit to the data, but due to a strong correlation between exhaustion and disengagement and low within-person reliability for disengagement, a unidimensional model seems more valid. A cross-level invariance was not confirmed for either of the structures, showing that factor loadings for the same items differ significantly between the levels. This suggests that burnout is not the same latent variable at each level; rather, there are factors other than daily burnout that influence person-level scores and ignoring these across-level discrepancies may lead to biased conclusions.
Burnout, Professional/psychology , Interpersonal Relations , Job Satisfaction , Adult , Aged , Diaries as Topic , Employment , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Motivation/physiology , Young Adult
BACKGROUND: Burnout has been traditionally seen as a chronic and stable state in response to prolonged stress. However, measures of momentary burnout are not well established, even though the within-person approach suggests that the symptoms of burnout may vary from day to day for the same employee. The aim of this study is to examine the daily inter- and intra-personal variability of the symptoms of burnout and the cross-lagged relationship between two components of burnout, exhaustion and disengagement. METHODS: An online diary study over 10 consecutive workdays was conducted among 235 civil servants (75% women, average tenure of 15 years). Daily burnout was measured with the eight-item Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. RESULTS: The intra-class correlation coefficients indicate that, although significant between-person variability exists, most of the burnout variance is within persons. Using the random intercept cross-lagged panel (RI-CLP) model to control for these between-person differences, mainly insignificant "pure" within-person cross-lagged relationships between exhaustion and disengagement were revealed. Moreover, day-to-day autoregressive effects were weaker than same-day residual correlations. CONCLUSION: This is one of the first studies to use daily diaries and the RI-CLP model to study burnout, including the separation of the more stable and more dynamic parts of each component. When stable parts were controlled for, the same-day relationships between exhaustion and disengagement were more pronounced than day-to-day effects. This might suggest stronger situational influences than carryover mechanism. Thus, conceptualizing burnout in terms of daily symptoms may shed promising insights into how it develops and add implications for pro-healthy changes in the workplace.
BACKGROUND: The relationship between positivity, i.e., the proportion of positive and negative emotions, and job burnout may be of a curvilinear shape. From a theoretical point of view, it is a causal relationship, since positivity can be regarded as a proximal dimension of occupational well-being, and burnout as a distal one. However, previous studies have been mostly cross-sectional and have tested only linear relationships between these variables. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the shape of the relationship between positivity and burnout using both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, on the example of civil servants. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 238 civil servants (73.5% of whom were women). Positivity was assessed with the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale. Exhaustion and disengagement, 2 components of job burnout, were measured twice, at a 4-month interval, using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. RESULTS: The cross-sectional models assuming the curvilinear relationship between positivity and job burnout were better fitted to the data than models with the linear relationship only. Thus, positivity was curvilinearly related to both exhaustion and disengagement, with an inflection point around 2. In the longitudinal models, for exhaustion the curvilinear model was again better fitted to the data, while for disengagement it was the linear model. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between positivity and exhaustion was curvilinear among the civil servants. This may indicate personal costs of maintaining a high ratio of positive to negative emotions at work. Nevertheless, the role of positivity for disengagement seems more complex, with a possible long-term protective function. Med Pr. 2019;70(2):201-11.
Burnout, Professional , Emotions , Government Employees/psychology , Administrative Personnel/psychology , Adult , Aged , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Poland , Young Adult
Values represent people's highest priorities and are cognitive representations of basic motivations. Work values determine what is important for employees in their work and what they want to achieve in their work. Past research shows that levels of both aspects of job-related well-being, job burnout and work engagement, are related to work values. The policing profession is associated with high engagement and a risk of burnout. There is a gap in the literature regarding the hierarchy of work values in police officers, how work values are associated with job burnout and work engagement in this group, and whether work values in police officers are sensitive to different levels of job burnout and work engagement. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the relationships between work values and job burnout and work engagement, in a group of experienced police officers. We investigated: (a) the hierarchy of work values based on Super's theory of career development, (b) relationships between work values and burnout and work engagement, and (c) differences between the work values in four groups (burned-out, strained, engaged, and relaxed). A group of 234 Polish police officers completed the Work Values Inventory (WVI) modeled upon Super's theory, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The results show that police officers gave the highest priority to extrinsic work values. Job burnout was negatively correlated with the cognitive intrinsic work values (Creativity, Challenge, and Variety), while work engagement was positively correlated with the largest group of intrinsic work values (Creativity, Challenge, Variety, Altruism, and Achievement), as well as with the extrinsic work values (Prestige and Co-workers). The police officers showed significant differences, between levels of job burnout and work engagement, for intrinsic work values such as Variety, Challenge, and Creativity (large effects), and for Altruism and Prestige (moderate effects). The findings are discussed within the context of the Conservation of Resources theory, which explains how people invest and protect their personal resources, and how this is connected with preferred work values. We conclude that intrinsic work values are sensitive to different levels of burnout and engagement.
Background: Poland has lower ratios of employed registered nurses per 1,000 inhabitants than the EU average. Polish nurses work under miserable conditions without assisting personnel, and they reconcile their professional demands with responsibilities for their families; 96% of them are women. Rationale/Aims: This study uses Hobfoll's conservation of resources (CORs) theory to explain the role of various resources in the improvement of work conditions in the nursing profession. Work-family conflict (WFC) and family work conflict (FWC) threaten to deplete nurses' resources. This paper set out to (1) examine the extent to which perceived job demands (workload and interpersonal conflicts at work) and engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption) are associated with turnover intentions (the intention to leave the present workplace and the intention to leave the nursing profession); (2) attempt to determine whether levels of WFC and FWC moderate these associations. Design/Method: This study comprised 188 female registered nurses. The inclusion criterion was to live with a partner and/or have children. Results: WFC was moderately related to FWC. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that only high job demands and low vigor were significantly associated with turnover intentions. WFC was experienced more intensively than FWC. Job demands, vigor, dedication, and turnover intentions had a strong effect on WFC, while absorption had a strong effect on FWC. However, levels of WFC and FWC did not significantly moderate these associations. Originality/Conclusion: The study produces new knowledge by examining a constellation of job demands, work engagement and WFC, which reflect the management of personal resources. Results from such a constellation in nurses from countries with a post-transformational economic system have not previously been discussed in the light of COR theory. Most importantly, we conclude that WFC does not intensify turnover intentions.
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) - its factor structure, reliability, validity and standard norms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 3 independent samples of 1804, 366 and 48 workers employed in social service and general service professions. To test the OLBI structure the exploratory factor analysis was conducted. The reliability was assessed by means of Cronbach's α coefficient (the internal consistent) and test-retest (the stability over time) method, with a 6-week follow-up. The construct validity of the OLBI was tested by means of correlation analysis, using perceived stress and work engagement as the criterion variables. RESULTS: The result of the factor analysis confirmed a 2-factor structure of the Inventory but the construction of each factor differed from that in the OLBI original version. Therefore, 2 separate factor analyses - each for the single component of job burnout (exhaustion and disengagement from work) - were conducted. The analyses revealed that each of the components consisted of 2 subscales. The reliability of the OLBI was supported by 2 methods. It was also proved that job burnout and its 2 components, exhaustion and disengagement from work, were positively correlated with perceived stress and negatively correlated with work engagement and its 3 components - vigor, absorption and dedication. CONCLUSIONS: Despite certain limitations the Polish version of the OLBI shows satisfactory psychometric properties and it can be used to measure job burnout in Polish conditions.
Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Burnout, Professional/diagnosis , Burnout, Professional/psychology , Fatigue/diagnosis , Nursing Staff/psychology , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Occupations , Poland , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of Results , Stress, Psychological , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young Adult
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to verify psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS). Specifically, theoretical 4-factor structure (based on the dimensions of pleasure and arousal) and reliability of the original - 20-item JAWS (van Katwyk et al., 2000) and the shortened - 12-item (Schaufeli and Van Rhenen, 2006) versions were tested. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two independent samples were analyzed (police officers, N = 395, and police recruits, N = 202). The Polish version of the original, 20-item, JAWS was used to measure job-related affective states across the past month (van Katwyk et al., 2000). This version of JAWS includes 2 dimensions: valence and arousal, which allow to assess 4 categories of emotions: low-arousal positive emotions, high-arousal positive emotions, low-arousal negative emotions and high-arousal negative emotions. RESULTS: The results of multidimensional scaling analysis showed that the theoretical circumplex model of emotions underlining JAWS was satisfactorily reproduced. Also the hypothesized 4-factor structure of the Polish version of JAWS was confirmed. The 12-item version had better fit with the data than the original, 20-item, version, but the best fit was obtained for the even shorter, 8-item version. This version emerged from a multidimensional scaling of the 12-item version. Reliabilities of the 20- and 12-item versions were good, with lower values for the 8-item JAWS version. CONCLUSIONS: The findings confirmed satisfactory psychometric properties of both Polish versions of the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale. Thus, when both psychometric properties and relevance for cross-cultural comparisons are considered, the 12-item JAWS is recommended as a version of choice.
Affect , Police , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Adult , Arousal , Female , Humans , Language , Male , Pleasure , Poland , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of Results , Translations
OBJECTIVE: Job rewards have both, an intrinsic and an extrinsic motivational potential, and lead to employees' development as well as help them to achieve work goals. Rewards can balance job demands and protect from burnout. Due to changes on the labour market, new studies are needed. The aim of our study was to examine the role of demands and individual rewards (and their absence) in burnout among surgical nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in 2009 and 2010 with 263 nurses who worked in surgical wards and clinics in hospitals in Southern Poland. The hypotheses were tested by the use of measures of demands and rewards (Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire by Siegrist) and burnout syndrome (Maslach Burnout Inventory). A cross-sectional, correlational study design was applied. RESULTS: Nurses experienced the largest deficiencies in salary and prestige. Exhaustion was explained by stronger demands and lack of respect (large effect). Depersonalization was explained by stronger demands, lack of respect and greater job security (medium effect). Reduced personal achievement was explained by more demands and greater job security (small effect). CONCLUSIONS: Excessive demands and lack of esteem are key reasons for burnout among surgical nurses. Job security can increase burnout when too many resources are invested and career opportunities do not appear. These results may help to improve human resource management in the healthcare sector.
Burnout, Professional/psychology , Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology , Perioperative Nursing , Reward , Workload/psychology , Adult , Career Mobility , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depersonalization/psychology , Female , Humans , Job Satisfaction , Male , Middle Aged , Salaries and Fringe Benefits , Young Adult
