Maarten Sercu

Job Demands, Job Resources, Burnout, Work Engagement, and Their Relationships: An Analysis Across Sectors

Objective: The aim of this study was to gain insight in the importance of job demands and resources and the validity of the Job Demands Resources Model across sectors. Methods: We used one-way analyses of variance to examine mean differences, and multi-group Structural Equation Modeling analyses to test the strength of the relationships among job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement across the health care, industry, service, and public sector. Results: The four sectors differed in the experience of job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement, but they did not vary in how (strongly) job demands and resources associated with burnout and work engagement. Conclusion: More attention is needed to decrease burnout and increase work engagement, particularly in industry, service, and the public sector. The Job Demands-Resources model may be helpful in this regard, as it is valid across sectors.

141 Can coping strategies alleviate the link between workplace aggression and burnout? the role of seeking instrumental or emotional socal support

Introduction Aggression at the workplace occurs frequently. Workplace aggression negatively impacts employees’ psychological well-being. In the current research, we investigated whether coping strategies alleviated the negative impact of workplace aggression on one important indicator of employees’ psychological well-being, namely burnout (risk). More specifically, we examined whether the coping strategies seeking instrumental or emotional social support moderated the relationship between workplace aggression and burnout symptoms. Methods Questionnaires were administered to employees of a large Belgian hospital. In total, 1544 employees participated (response rate=44%). The scale measuring workplace aggression consisted of three items (α=0,79). Burnout risk was measured with the two most central subscales of the Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (UBOS), namely emotional exhaustion (5 items; α=0,92) and depersonalization (4 items; α=0,86). Finally, from the COPE questionnaire, we used the subscales seeking instrumental social support (4 items; α=0,92) and emotional social support (4 items; α=0,92). We tested our hypotheses using hierarchical regression analyses. Result Replicating previous research, we found that workplace aggression increases both the levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Furthermore, we found that seeking instrumental social support is a better coping strategy than seeking emotional social support: the former decreases burnout symptoms, whereas the latter may even increase burnout symptoms. Finally, we found that the coping strategy seeking instrumental social support alleviated the relationship between workplace aggression on the one hand and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization on the other. Seeking emotional social support only moderated the relationship between workplace aggression and depersonalization: the level of depersonalization increased for employees with lower scores on this coping strategy when they encountered workplace aggression; employees scoring high on this coping strategy had increased levels of depersonalization regardless of experienced workplace aggression. Discussion Our findings will be discussed in light of its theoretical and practical contributions.

Not Extent of Telecommuting, But Job Characteristics as Proximal Predictors of Work-Related Well-Being

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the curvilinear relationship between extent of telecommuting and work-related well-being (ie, burnout, work engagement, and cognitive stress complaints), as well as to test whether job characteristics act as explanatory mechanisms underlying this relationship. Methods: A sample of 878 employees from an international telecommunication company with a long history of telecommuting participated in a survey on psychosocial risk factors and well-being at work. Mediation path analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. Results: Social support from colleagues, participation in decision-making, task autonomy, and work-to-family conflict, but not extent of telecommuting, were directly related to work-related well-being. Extent of telecommuting was indirectly related to well-being via social support. Conclusion: Employers should invest in creating good work environments in general, among both telecommuters and nontelecommuters.

373 Burnout, a substantial problem in hospital physicians. A multicentre study on its prevalence, determinants and consequences in 37 Belgian Hospitals

Objectives Previous research revealed burnout in one third of the Belgian critical care physicians. Burnout leads to absenteeism, affects quality and safety of care, while work-engagement positively affects personal performance and involvement in the organisation. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, determinants and consequences of burnout and work-engagement in a representative sample of Belgian physicians across all medical specialties. Methods A multi-centre survey was conducted using a 2-phased convenience sample: 1) all general and psychiatric hospitals were invited and 2) an electronic questionnaire was send to all doctors from the participating institutions. The 29-item “Utrechtse Burnout Scale” measured 3 dimensions, “emotional exhaustion (EE)”, “depersonalisation (DP)” and “personal accomplishment (PA)”, scored on a likert-scale (0(never)- 6(always/daily)). Doctors with high EE (mean score>2.50) and high DP (mean score>1.80(men)/>1.60(women)) or low PA (mean score<3.71) were considered at risk. Burnout was defined as high EE and high DP and low PA. The 9-item “Utrechtse Work-Engagement Scale” using a similar likert-scale determined work-engagement (mean score>5). Socio-demographics, theory-based determinants and consequences were measured using validated scales. Results Thirty-seven hospitals (20%) joined the study and 1198 doctors (47% female, mean age: 43.66) completed the questionnaire. Almost 89% had at least a master-after-master degree and 62% were medical specialists. The most represented specialties were anesthesia-resuscitation (12%), internal medicine (7.3%) and paediatrics (6.8%). Forty percent, 27.9% and 15.3% suffered from EE, DP and low PA respectively. Burnout was detected in 5.4%, 17.8% were at risk and 63% demonstrated high work-engagement. Important burnout determinants were “workload”, “role conflicts” and “emotional strain”. “Autonomy”, “skill utilisation” and “physician-nurse relation” determined work-engagement. Conclusions A slightly higher number of Belgian doctors suffered from burnout compared to previous studies, yet also showed work-engagement. Further analysis on determinants will be conducted as a base for preventive measures and actions to improve work-engagement.