Areas of work-life in Spanish hostelry professionals: explanatory power on burnout dimensions

Abstract

Background Researchers have studied for decades workplace stress and burnout to identify their relationship to health and wellness. This research has focused on stress levels in people, as well as on environmental and personal factors that contribute to experiencing stress or burnout. In addition to the burnout measurement questionnaires (MBI-GS), Leiter and Maslach designed a model to evaluate the areas of work environment that relate to this construct (Areas of Worklife Scale-AWLS). The goal of the present research was to analyze the psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the MBI (GS) and the AWLS with a Spanish-speaking population. This work makes a substantial contribution by addressing the need to use validated measures and methods when exploring the positive and negative aspects of organizations. These conditions provide a means to accurately evaluate the impact of interventions aimed to address stress and burnout. Method Cross-sectional study with self-report measures. The sample was comprised of 452 managers and employees (hotels, restaurants, catering) of Aragón (Spain). There were approximately equal numbers of women and men (45,4% vs. 54,6%). The average age of participants was 36.6 years (SD = 10.03). A battery of questionnaires was used: Socio-demographic and work characteristics , Scale of stress and health symptoms, Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), Areas of Worklife Scale ( AWLS). Results The results showed optimal psychometric properties in both questionnaires, especially in terms of the predictive capacity of the AWLS in each of the MBI-GS dimensions. Conclusions The best explained dimension is that of emotional exhaustion. The manageable load variable is the one that most contributes to predicting burnout levels. For future interventions, the results confirm the need to verify the levels of each area of work, in order to focus on the most deteriorated ones.

Value Conflict, Lack of Rewards, and Sense of Community as Psychosocial Risk Factors of Burnout in Communication Professionals (Press, Radio, and Television)

“…As evidenced by several investigations conducted in different work environments, our study with journalists showed that the higher the manageable load index, the lower the level of EE [ 9 , 31 ]. However, the possibility of exercising “control” over the task itself was not shown to be an explanatory variable for any of the burnout dimensions, as we hypothesized before this study began.…”

“…All the while, the times are marked by the current climate of accepting long and changeable schedules with little stability [ 4 ]. Overload doesn’t seem to be the only variable that explains the wear in this and other professions [ 9 ], the psychosocial factors can vary according to the type of media (newspaper, radio, television, news agency, etc.) and depending on the format (direct, daily press, etc.).…”

“…In addition to recognition and the sense perceived of justice, a work-life area that gains importance is the relative congruence or incongruence between personal principles and those of the organization [ 10 , 12 ]. It is common that an employee starts their career with a strong commitment to their personal aims and those of the company and, for different reasons, distances themselves over time [ 9 ]. We must add to all these factors that journalists need to be up to date with news and technology upgrades which quickly reach obsoletion [ 5 , 6 ].…”

“…“Workload” has shown, in multiple investigations, its direct relationship with EE [ 18 ]. Closely related to this, the fact that the worker has “control” over the task can reduce EE [ 9 , 10 ]. Other variables can be protective or deleterious irrespective of high overload situations.…”

“…Surveys from the “Areas of Worklife (AWL)” model show that it explains a significant percentage of the burnout variance in differing productive sectors around the world [ 9 , 10 , 21 ], and is considered an optimal instrument to evaluate psychosocial risk factors before designing future interventions.…”