This longitudinal study reports the patterning of the burnout symptoms and the changes in employees' job conditions, personal resources, and psychological health 4 months after a rehabilitation intervention. The data were gathered by means of questionnaires before and after a rehabilitation period. Four patterns were identified: not burned out (n = 55), exhausted and cynical (n = 36), burned out (n = 26), and low professional efficacy (n = 18). These patterns differed in terms of job resources, personal resources, and depression. There were both positive and negative changes detected in participants' psychological health and job resources at the follow-up. The study shows the importance of identifying different burnout patterns in order to focus rehabilitation activities more effectively.
This quasi-experimental study compared the effects of two rehabilitation interventions on burnout, and perceived job conditions during a one-year intervention among female white-collar workers. The participatory intervention (n = 20), involving rehabilitation activities focusing on the individual as well as individual-organizational levels, reduced exhaustion and cynicism and increased perceived job control during a one-year period. Increased job control served as a mechanism through which exhaustion and cynicism decreased in this intervention. The traditional intervention (n = 32), involving rehabilitation activities focusing mainly on the individual level, resulted in a reduction in time pressures during one year. Furthermore, both interventions improved perceived workplace climate. Compared to the traditional approach, the participatory intervention was a more effective strategy for treating burnout.
To focus rehabilitation activities among burnout clients more effectively, it is important to investigate who benefits from burnout interventions. This study (N=85) aimed at identifying burnout trajectories in terms of benefit, that is, subgroups of clients who share similar mean levels and changes in burnout during a one-year rehabilitation intervention (17 days in total) with a six-month follow-up. After identifying the burnout trajectories, the relations of the trajectories with factors describing the clients, antecedents, and consequences of burnout during the one-year intervention were examined. Three burnout trajectories were identified by growth mixture modeling: (a) low burnout (n=39), (b) high burnout - benefited (n=29), and (c) high burnout - not benefited (n=17). Positive changes were detected in antecedents and consequences among the clients in the low burnout and high burnout - benefited trajectories. Recovery from burnout was associated with increased job resources and decreased job demands, as well as with increased job satisfaction and decreased depression. It seems that more precise targeting of rehabilitation is needed since the trajectories revealed not only clients with mild symptoms, but also clients who probably received this treatment too late.
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