This study's purpose was twofold: first, to examine the relative importance of job demands and resources as predictors of burnout and engagement, and second, the relative importance of engagement and burnout related to health, depressive symptoms, work ability, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions in two samples of health care workers. Nurse leaders ( n = 162) and licensed emergency medical technicians (EMTs; n = 102) completed surveys. In both samples, job demands predicted burnout more strongly than job resources, and job resources predicted engagement more strongly than job demands. Engagement held more weight than burnout for predicting commitment, and burnout held more weight for predicting health outcomes, depressive symptoms, and work ability. Results have implications for the design, evaluation, and effectiveness of workplace interventions to reduce burnout and improve engagement among health care workers. Actionable recommendations for increasing engagement and decreasing burnout in health care organizations are provided.

Purpose – The authors sought initial validity evidence for a measure of anticipated discrimination in the workplace using three samples of working adults with various chronic illnesses. The purpose of this paper is to propose a single factor structure, correlations with stigma dimensions, discriminant validity from similar scales, and incremental validity in predicting work-related outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Adults working at least 20 hours per week with various chronic illnesses (Sample 1 n=332, Sample 2 n=193, Sample 3 n=230) voluntarily completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Findings – Results supported the proposed single-factor structure, along with proposed correlations with strain, and job attitudes (job satisfaction, affective commitment, and both procedural justice). Discriminant validity was observed between anticipated discrimination and procedural justice perceptions and perceived impact on performance. The scale demonstrated incremental validity in predicting strain beyond the relevant controls in all three samples, although it only demonstrated incremental validity in predicting job satisfaction in Samples 1 and 3 and affective commitment in Sample 1. Research limitations/implications – Study limitations include the use of single-source, cross-sectional data, omission of a non-stigmatized sample, and a deductive approach to item generation. Future research should attempt to validate the scale on other stigmatized worker populations. Practical implications – Organizations may use this scale to monitor employees’ perceptions of anticipated discrimination and researchers may use it as a measure of a workplace stressor. Originality/value – The vast majority of existing stigma and discrimination scales do not specifically address the workplace context. This study contributes to the literature by providing psychometric information for a workplace anticipated discrimination scale using samples from an under-represented worker population.

Chronic pain is both prevalent and one of the leading causes of work-related disability. Somatic experiences of pain and pain interference with daily activities at work may lead to psychological distress and strain in workers. In accordance with the appraisal theory of stress, we proposed a model in which pain interference mid-workday predicts negative affect and end-of-workday emotional exhaustion in workers who interact with customers. Further, we proposed that pain interference predicts variance in negative affect and exhaustion beyond somatic experiences of pain, based on our theoretical proposition that pain interference represents a secondary stress appraisal. Participants (N = 86 full-time workers with chronic pain) completed 2 online surveys per day for 5 consecutive workdays. Results from multilevel path analysis supported our hypotheses; pain interference predicted both negative affect and end-of-day emotional exhaustion while controlling for somatic experiences of pain (pain severity). Further, pain interference indirectly predicted end-of-day emotional exhaustion via negative affect while controlling for somatic pain experiences. Results highlight the importance of pain interference as a stressor at work for individuals working with chronic pain and point to the need for effective interventions for this working population.

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