"Areas of Worklife scale" (AWS) short version (Spanish): a confirmatory factor analysis based on a secondary school teacher sample.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the construct validity of the Areas of Worklife Short Scale, a practical instrument to measure employees' perceptions of their work environments in the sample of secondary obligatory education teachers in Spain. METHODS: Conducted in 33 centers of secondary obligatory education in Spain (N = 677). Confirmatory Factor analysis for 3 different models for the 29-items version and 1 model for the 18-items version was tested. RESULTS: Results confirmed that the short AWS short version had the best fit to the data than any other model proposed (GFI-Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-squared = 320.19, × 2/df = 2.337) and good fit indices (CFI = 0.911; RMSEA = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: This analysis ultimately supports the appropriateness of AWS short version to explore areas of worklife and therefore can indicate the factors that contribute to burnout in the sample of secondary obligatory education teachers in Spain. Therefore it has been confirmed that this tool is able to assess the 6 domains of work environment of secondary schools teachers.

A two process model of burnout and work engagement: distinct implications of demands and values.

A model of job burnout proposes two distinct processes. The first process concerns balance of demands to resources. A poor balance leads to chronic exhaustion, an integral aspect of the burnout syndrome. The second process concerns the congruence of individual and organizational values. The model proposes that value conflicts have implications for all three aspects of burnout. It also proposes that the impact of value conflicts has only minor implications for the exhaustion aspect of burnout; they are more relevant for the cynicism and inefficacy aspects of the syndrome. The model considers distinct processes at work that concern employees' perception of organizational justice and their trust in leadership. With a sample of 725 nurses, the analysis tested one component of the theory: the extent to which value congruence enhances the prediction of burnout beyond the prediction provided by demands and resources. Future directions are discussed.

Job burnout.

Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, and is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. The past 25 years of research has established the complexity of the construct, and places the individual stress experience within a larger organizational context of people's relation to their work. Recently, the work on burnout has expanded internationally and has led to new conceptual models. The focus on engagement, the positive antithesis of burnout, promises to yield new perspectives on interventions to alleviate burnout. The social focus of burnout, the solid research basis concerning the syndrome, and its specific ties to the work domain make a distinct and valuable contribution to people's health and well-being.

Abusive interactions and burnout: Examining occupation, gender, and the mediating role of community.

Abstract Two studies examined the association of gender and occupational group (nursing versus non-nursing) with perceived risk of abuse (sexual harassment and verbal and physical abuse) as well as the relationship of perceived abuse risk with burnout and sense of community. Study 1, comprising of two settings (tertiary care hospital, N = 3,062; psychiatric hospital, N = 383), found gender and occupational group associated with perceived risk of abuse (women felt greater risk than men; nurses felt greater risk than non-nurses). It also found a gender/occupational group interaction. Study 2, conducted at an Irish tertiary care hospital (N = 892), found nurses felt at greater risk for all three types of abuse than did non-nurses. Further, women perceived themselves at greater risk for sexual harassment and verbal abuse than did men; the study found no gender difference regarding physical abuse. The analysis identified a gender/occupational group interaction for sexual harassment. The study considers methods of reducing perceived risk in regard to the research literature on abuse at work.

Six areas of worklife: a model of the organizational context of burnout.

Burnout research has considered a wide range of organizational correlates of burnout. It is argued that integrating these various organizational qualities into a comprehensive model of organizational environments will further research on burnout. The primary themes in burnout research fit readily into six areas of worklife; workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. These areas are sufficiently broad to encompass the rich variety of research approaches taken in the field while being sufficiently precise to permit clear distinctions among them. The review identifies a consistent body of research on the relationships of these six areas with burnout. The review concludes by considering issues for a research agenda on the organizational antecedents of burnout and noting the implications of a focus on mismatches for interventions.

The correspondence of patient satisfaction and nurse burnout.

This study examined the relationships of nurse burnout, intention to quit, and meaningfulness of work as assessed on a staff survey with patient satisfaction with nursing care, physician care, information provided and coordination of care, and outcomes of the hospital stay assessed post-discharge. Sixteen inpatient units from two hospital sites formed the data base and included 605 patients and 711 nurses. Patients' perceptions of the quality of each of the four care dimensions corresponded to the relationships nurses had with their work. Patients on units where nurses found their work meaningful were more satisfied with all aspects of their hospital stay. Patients who stayed on units where nursing staff felt more exhausted or more frequently expressed the intention to quit were less satisfied with the various components of their care. Although nurse cynicism was reflected in lower patient satisfaction with interactions with nursing staff, the correlations between cynicism and other aspects of care fell below statistical significance. No significant correlations were found between nurse professional efficacy and any of the patient satisfaction components measured. The implications of the relationship between patient satisfaction and nurses' perception of their work is discussed.

Relationships of occupational hazards with burnout: an assessment of measures and models.

A survey of aircraft maintenance technicians with the Canadian Forces (N = 157) found support for a model of burnout and occupational risk assessment. The model depicted employees' assessment of occupational risk as a function of the prevalence and lethalness of workplace hazards, as well as of the amount of control employees experience over their interactions with these hazards. A confirmatory factor analysis, in which LISREL analysis was used, supported an integrated model of risk perception and burnout. In this model, the employee's sense of control in managing occupational hazards was pivotal in both the experience of exhaustion and being at risk at work. Safety training contributed to perceived control and technicians' sense of effectiveness at work. The extension of the burnout construct beyond the human service domain was considered by using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey.

Correspondence of supervisor and subordinate perspectives during major organizational change.

Staff members (N = 2,605) and supervisors (N = 55) of 39 administrative units in 2 healthcare organizations completed a survey measuring confidence in the organization, engagement with their work, and occupational hazards. A correlational analysis determined correspondence between the perspectives of supervisors with those of staff reporting to them as their facilities adjusted to major organizational changes. Supervisors' scores were significantly and positively correlated with the corresponding scores of staff members on cynicism, meaningfulness, acceptance of change, goals, hospital reputation, and health risks. Regression analysis found that relationships were relatively domain specific: Supervisor engagement with work was positively related to that of their staff members, and supervisors evaluations of the organization were positively related to those of their staff members. Supervisor assessment of occupational hazards was related to all 3 areas of staff perception.

Burnout among mental health workers: a review and a research agenda.

The purpose of this paper is to review studies of burnout relating to mental health workers and to propose directions for future research. It will summarize findings with regard to established norms, demographic variables, possible antecedents and consequences of burnout, and burnout models tested with mental health workers. Comparison of group perceptions of burnout is facilitated by the fact that all the papers but one have used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981, 1986). Strengths and weaknesses of the research will be analyzed and suggestions offered for extending research in this area.

Role structure and burnout in the field of human services.

This article discusses a study that investigated burnout as a function of aspects of role structure for people working in the field of human services. The subjects, the staff of a residential rehabilitation and mental health center, completed a six-team questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Least Preferred Coworker Scale. The relationships of accuracy, concentration of social support network, mutual references, and motivational hierarchy were analyzed in three multiple regressions with emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, and depersonalization. Emotional exhaustion was found to have occurred less often when a person's social support network within the setting was not concentrated solely within the formal work subgroup, personal accomplishment was enhanced by an ambiguous role structure, and depersonalization was found to be related primarily to a person's values toward personal relationships and work and to be more prevalent among those with concentrated networks and ambiguously structured roles.