Deakin University
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Organizational predictors and health consequences of changes in burnout: a 12-year cohort study

Version 2 2024-06-13, 10:15
Version 1 2016-11-30, 15:25
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-13, 10:15 authored by MP Leiter, JJ Hakanen, K Ahola, S Toppinen-Tanner, A Koskinen, A Väänänen
We investigated job burnout and job characteristics, including decision authority, skill discretion, predictability, and information flow, among Finnish forestry workers (N=4356) in a longitudinal study. We linked these responses individually with data on the participants' subsequent prescriptions for psychotropic drugs including antidepressants. We aim to study the antecedents of changes in burnout levels over four years time and their health-related consequences in an eight-year follow-up. The results showed that inconsistency among the levels of the Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales (e. g., high scores in exhaustion and low cynicism or vice versa) at baseline identified patterns that were prone to change in burnout four years later. Information flow predicted the direction of this change for the exhaustion and cynicism aspects of burnout, whereas skill discretion and predictability did so for reduced professional efficacy. Change toward burnout predicted future risk of psychotropic drug use. It seems that adverse changes in burnout are influenced by poor organizational resources, and change toward burnout is likely to elevate the risk of poor mental health.

History

Journal

Journal of organizational behavior

Volume

34

Pagination

959-973

Location

Chichester, Eng.

ISSN

0894-3796

eISSN

1099-1379

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2012, Wiley

Issue

7

Publisher

Wiley