A Two-Wave Study On The Associations Of Burnout With Depression And Anxiety: The Mediating And Moderating Role Of Perceived Family Support

Abstract

Studies have shown strong associations between burnout and depression and burnout and anxiety but their exact interrelationships still remain unclear. Few studies have examined the psychosocial mechanisms that might underlie these two relationships. Non-work social factors such as perceived family support can affect mental health. The present study investigated the distinctiveness and the reciprocal associations between burnout and depression, and burnout and anxiety by collecting data twice over an 8 month interval. Perceived family support was examined as a mediating and a moderating factor underlying the two relationships. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale, and the Julkunen Family Support Scale were administered to employees of the general working population ( N = 52). First, our results revealed moderate associations between burnout and depression, and burnout and anxiety, supporting the distinctiveness of burnout from the two psychological phenomena. Second, the exhaustion and cynicism burnout dimensions showed reciprocal associations with depression. Moreover, anxiety was found to be a consequence of cynicism while it presented reciprocal associations with the exhaustion dimension of burnout. Perceived family support did not mediate the burnout-depression and burnout-anxiety relationships. However, it moderated the depression-exhaustion relationship in a direction opposite from our hypothesis.

Loneliness and social support as key contributors to burnout among Canadians workers in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

“…The role of support in shaping burnout may therefore be more complex than simply acting as a buffer against stress. As noted by Koutsimani and Montgomery, 41 social relationships can act as a stressor for people experiencing considerable levels of distress. It is possible that people who are highly distressed or burnt‐out experience diminishing returns from social investments.…”

“…These data highlight the importance of considering the specific mechanisms by which social support might prevent burnout. For example, Koutsimani and Montgomery 41 reported that perceived family support mediated the relationships between depression and exhaustion (a subdimension of burnout), but not between burnout and depression or burnout and anxiety. The role of support in shaping burnout may therefore be more complex than simply acting as a buffer against stress.…”

“…A broad vision for wellness, not bounded by work hours or office settings, must be accounted for in order to more fulsomely address the determinants of burnout 40 . Indeed, as noted by Koutsimani and Montgomery, 41 burnout is a distinct phenomenon from typical mental health constructs like anxiety and depression; thus, requiring specialized solutions to address it. Such interventions might, for instance, provide structural and individual support an employee's social health and well‐being, using tailored, person‐centered approaches that address specific, individual needs 23 .…”

Perceived Income Adequacy, Family Support, Financial Anxiety, and Tax Non-Compliance of Indonesian Working Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…This study includes the perceived family support variable into the model because of the consideration that working women spent more time with their families due to the work-from-home policy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many previous studies have proven the effect of perceived family support on anxiety levels (Largani et al, 2022;Jafari & Shahriari, 2021;Koutsimani & Montgomery, 2021). However, COR Theory warns of potential social costs (Hobfoll, 2001b).…”

What is the prevalence of burnout amongst first contact physiotherapists working within primary care?

“…Burnout represents a major public health concern (Shi et al., 2019), has recently been added to the international classification of diseases (ICD‐11) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) (2019) and is recognised in some European countries as a work‐related disorder and occupation disease (Koutsimani & Montgomery, 2021). Symptoms of burnout can include withdrawal, fatigue, low work morale, decreased job satisfaction (Shi et al., 2019) and has been shown to predict psychological and physical consequences, including type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorder (Armon et al., 2010), cardiovascular disease (Toker et al., 2012), insomnia and depressive symptoms (Armon et al., 2008).…”