Maria C. W. Peeters

Balancing Work and Home: How Job and Home Demands Are Related to Burnout

Utrecht UniversityThe aim of the present study was to make a clear distinction between workand home domains in the explanation of burnout. First, a 3-factor structureof job and home demands was hypothesized, consisting of quantitativedemands, emotional demands, and mental demands. Next, a model was testedthat delineates how demands in both life domains are related to occupationalburnout through work home interference (WHI) and home work interfer-ence (HWI). In doing so, the partial mediating role of WHI and HWI wasexamined. Consistent with hypotheses, empirical support was found for the3-factor structure of both job and home demands as well as for the partialmediating effects of both WHI and HWI. Job demands and home demandsappeared to have a direct and indirect effect (through WHI and HWI,respectively) on burnout.

Antecedents and consequences of work-home interference among medical residents

A cross-sectional field study is reported in which a comprehensive model of work-home interference (WHI) was developed and tested among 166 medical residents of an academic hospital in the Netherlands. It was hypothesized that WHI functions as a critical mediating pathway in the relationship between work and home characteristics on the one hand, and work-related and general psychological health indicators on the other. The results revealed that one home characteristic and three work characteristics put pressure on the interface between the work and home life, that is, (1) having a spouse who works overtime frequently, (2) an unfavorable worktime schedule, (3) a high quantitative workload and (4) a problematic dependency on the superior. The results further showed that WHI was positively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (i.e. work-related health indicators), as well as with psychosomatic health complaints and sleep deprivation (i.e. general health indicators). More importantly, the results strongly supported our basic hypothesis that WHI mediates the impact of some work and home characteristics on psychological health indicators. This seems to be particularly true for the general health indicators: none of the home and work characteristics just mentioned, had a direct impact on these general indicators, independent of WHI. With respect to the work-related health indicators, particularly depersonalization, the mediating role of WHI was also strong, though less consistent. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Job Stress and Burnout Among Correctional Officers: A Literature Review

This literature review presents an overview of occupational stress and burnout in correctional institutions, based on 43 investigations from 9 countries. First, the prevalence of various stress reactions among correctional officers (COs) is discussed: turnover and absenteeism rates, psychosomatic diseases, and levels of job dissatisfaction and burnout. Next, empirical evidence is summarized for the existence of 10 specific stressors in the COs job. It appears that the most notable stressors for COs are role problems, work overload, demanding social contacts (with prisoners, colleagues, and supervisors), and poor social status. Finally, based on 21 articles, individual-oriented and organization-oriented approaches to reduce job stress and burnout among COs are discussed. It is concluded that particularly the latter (i.e., improving human resources management, professionalization of the COs job, and improvement of the social work environment) seems to be a promising avenue for reducing job stress and burnout in correctional institutions.

Take Care! The Evaluation of a Team-Based Burnout Intervention Program for Oncology Care Providers

In this quasi-experimental study among staff of 29 oncology wards, the authors evaluated the effects of a team-based burnout intervention program combining a staff support group with a participatory action research approach. Nine wards were randomly selected to participate in the program. Before the program started (Time 1), directly after the program ended (Time 2), and 6 months later (Time 3), study participants filled out a questionnaire on their work situation and well-being. Results of multilevel analyses showed that staff in the experimental wards experienced significantly less emotional exhaustion at both Time 2 and Time 3 and less depersonalization at Time 2, compared with the control wards. Moreover, changes in burnout levels were significantly related to changes in the perception of job characteristics over time.

Work‐home interference among newspaper managers: Its relationship with burnout and engagement

Managers are increasingly concerned about managing the conflicts experienced in fulfilling the responsibilities of work and family. The problem of balancing these domains arises from work to home interference, which reflects a mutual incompatibility between the demands of the work role and the demands of the home life. The central idea underlying the theoretical model of this study, is that work and home demands lead to work strain and decreased feelings of engagement, while work and home resources lead to increased feelings of engagement and reduced burnout. Work to home interference mediates these relationships. An innovation of the present study was to assess both home demands and positive aspects of work to home interference. Data were collected from 69 newspaper managers. Results indicated that negative interference mediated between demands and outcomes, and positive interference mediated between resources and outcomes. This study highlights the importance of measuring positive concepts in terms of constructing a more balanced picture of work and home interference.

Emotional job demands and the role of matching job resources: A cross-sectional survey study among health care workers

BACKGROUND Research on emotional labour in health care work has not yet revealed under what conditions emotional job demands have an impact on employee health and well-being. There is a need for more theory to unveil the black box of emotional labour processes. OBJECTIVES To test the moderating role of matching (i.e. emotional) and non-matching (i.e. cognitive) job resources in the relation between emotional job demands and employee health/well-being (i.e. emotional exhaustion, employee creativity, and work motivation). DESIGN A cross-sectional survey with anonymous questionnaires was conducted. SETTINGS A large organization for residential elderly care with eight locations in an urban area in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS Questionnaires were distributed to 1259 health care workers, of which 826 people returned the questionnaire (66% response rate). METHODS In addition to descriptive statistics, multivariate multiple regression analysis (LISREL 8.54) with cross-validation was conducted. RESULTS Findings showed that emotional job resources moderated the relation between emotional job demands and health/well-being outcomes. Firstly, emotional job resources were able to moderate the relation between emotional job demands and emotional exhaustion. Secondly, both emotional job resources and, to a lesser extent, cognitive job resources were able to moderate the relation between emotional job demands and positive well-being outcomes (i.e. employee creativity and work motivation). Finally, cross-validation showed that parameter estimates did not vary across subsamples. CONCLUSIONS Job resources could compensate for resources lost through meeting the requirements of emotional job demands, thereby reducing stress-reactions and increasing well-being. Providing health care workers with more, preferably matching, job resources could make emotional job demands less stressful, and even stimulating and challenging. Future longitudinal studies should investigate the interplay of emotional job demands and (matching) job resources more profoundly.

From inequity to burnout: The role of job stress

This research examined burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment) among 2 samples of Dutch teachers as a function of inequity and experienced job stress in 3 different exchange relationships (with students, colleagues, and the school). It was hypothesized that inequity would be linked to burnout through the stress resulting from this inequity. Analysis of a cross-sectional sample (N = 271) revealed that this was indeed the case. Findings were replicated longitudinally using an independent sample of 940 teachers. It is concluded that the often-reported effect of inequity on burnout can partly be interpreted in terms of elevated levels of job stress. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Towards a match between job demands and sources of social support : a study among oncology care providers

Recent studies have demonstrated that Karaseks operationalization of job demands in his well-known Job Demand-Control (JD-C) model (Karasek, 1979), i.e., quantitative demands, cannot capture the complexities of working with patients or clients in health care work. In the present study on burnout among 816 Dutch oncology care providers, the model was extended by including, apart from quantitative demands, emotional job demands and organizational job demands. Moreover, the study examined the potential moderating role of three different sources of social support (colleagues, supervisor, and family) on the relationship between job demands and burnout thereby predicting a specific match between the source of social support and the type of job demand. The results showed that particularly quantitative job demands and organizational job demands significantly contributed to the prediction of burnout. In addition, social support from the family moderated the relationship between quantitative demands and depersonalization, and social support from colleagues moderated the relationship between emotional demands and depersonalization.

Work–family interface from a life and career stage perspective: The role of demands and resources

Work-family conflict and enrichment are experiences that occur daily and have substantial consequences for employees, their families, and the organizations that employ them. The aim of the current review is to make a link between life and career stage, work and family conditions, and the work-family interface. The basic proposition is that life stages partly determine career development, and consequently the specific working conditions (job demands and job resources) and family conditions (family demands and family resources) that individuals are exposed to. As a result, the specific demands and resources in the work and family domains determine to what extent individuals experience that work and family are conflicting or enriching life domains. In this review we suggest that individuals in early adulthood will experience high inter-role conflict and low facilitation due to high demands and low resources in both life domains, while individuals in late adulthood will experience the opposite pattern; that is, low conflict and high facilitation due to low demands and high resources in both domains. Individuals in middle adulthood will experience high work-family conflict but also high family-work facilitation due to the presence of high job demands and resources in both life domains. Integrating life and career stage perspectives and the experience of work-family interface is of notable practical utility because it provides a mechanism to make more informed decisions about the relative need for and corresponding benefits of work-family programs.

Work-Home Interference, Job Stressors, and Employee Health in a Longitudinal Perspective

The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to examine the role of negative work–home interference (WHI) in the classical stressor–strain sequence. First, the predominant time-lagged path between WHI and job stressors was investigated. Furthermore, the direct and indirect (mediating) process of WHI, job stressors, and employee health was examined. The sample consisted of 383 health care employees. Results showed evidence for predominant time-lagged paths from Time 1 job stressors to Time 2 WHI and not the other way around. In addition, it appeared that WHI played a partial mediating role between all 3 types of job stressors on the one hand and exhaustion on the other.