Burnout and Vigor as Predictors of the Incidence of Hyperlipidemia among Healthy Employees

Abstract

We examined the effects of burnout and vigor on the incidence of hyperlipidemia. Based on the bivariate theoretical approach to negative and positive affects and on past studies on the prediction of blood lipids by burnout and vigor, we expected increases from Time 1 (T1) to Time 2 (T2) in burnout levels to be associated with an increase in the risk for hyperlipidemia and T1-T2 increases in vigor levels to be associated with a decrease in the risk of hyperlipidemia. Our sample consisted of 3,337 healthy employees (2,214 men and 1,123 women) who were followed up for about 27 months on average. Burnout and vigor were assessed by well-validated multiple-item instruments. We used logistic regressions and controlled for variables associated with blood lipids as well as with vigor and burnout. We cross-validated all self-reported hyperlipidemia by their T2 lipids levels. As expected, we found that T1-T2 increases in vigor levels were associated with a decreased risk of hyperlipidemia. However, the T1-T2 change in burnout levels was marginally significant (p = .06) in predicting hyperlipidemia. We consider our finding that vigor and burnout are independently associated with the risk of hyperlipidemia as providing support for the bivariate approach to affective states. In addition, our major finding suggests a possible mechanism via which vigor influences physical health outcomes.

Are You Working Vigorously? Adaptation and Validation of the Thai Version of Shirom-Melamed Vigor Scale

“…First, the test of incremental validity is limited to health outcomes, which were health status and frequency of exercise. Although previous studies have consistently documented the predictive effects of vigour on several physiological indicators of good health (e.g., Shirom, Toker, Jacobson et al, 2010;Shirom, Toker, Melamed et al, 2010;Shirom et al, 2013), findings with regard to predicting mental wellbeing and organisational outcomes are scarce (with the exception of Carmeli et al, 2009). Future investigations might provide more evidence for incremental validity of the T-SMVS on outcomes such as employees' subjective wellbeing and job performance.…”

“…Typically measured using the Shirom-Melamed Vigor Scale (SMVS; Shirom, 2004), accumulating evidence suggests that vigour might actually be worth investigating both in and out of the workplace setting (Shirom, Toker, Berliner, Shapira, & Melamed, 2008;Shirom, Toker, Jacobson, & Balicer, 2010;Shirom, Toker, Melamed, Berliner, & Shapira, 2013;Steele et al, 2012). For instance, Shirom and colleagues (Shirom et al, 2008;Shirom, Toker, Jacobson et al, 2010;Shirom et al, 2013) found that feeling vigorous at work predicted better self-rated health (Shirom et al, 2008), as well as lower risk for diabetes (Shirom, Toker, Jacobson et al, 2010) and hyperlipidemia among healthy employees (Shirom et al, 2013). For work-related outcomes, vigour was the strongest predictor of job performance above job involvement, perceived organisational support, and work engagement (Steele et al, 2012; see also Carmeli, Ben-Hador, Waldman, & Rupp, 2009).…”

What are the effects of psychological stress and physical work on blood lipid profiles?

“…Another scientist studied about the burnout syndrome that could be a predictor of hyperlipidemia among employees. [33] Burnout syndrome was an occupational psychological stress. Job stress could be seen in various forms which varied in different occupations.…”

The effect of change in supervisor support and job control on change in vigor: Differential relationships for immigrant and native employees in Israel

“…Vigor has been shown to be an important resource for employees and a source for employee health and performance outcomes: It has been used as an indicator of the ability to recover after work (Oerlemans & Bakker, 2014); it is associated with enhanced self-rated health (Shirom, Toker, Berliner, Shapira, & Melamed, 2008), with lower levels of physical health such as hyperlipidemia and inflammation biomarkers (Shirom, Toker, Melamed, Berliner, & Shapira, 2010;Shirom, Toker, Melamed, Berliner, & Shapira, 2013) and with performance (Reis et al, 2016), over and above other physiological and affective factors. Vigor has also been shown to be distinct from other constructs such as feelings of happiness (Bakker, Demerouti, Oerlemans, & Sonnentag, 2013) or positive affect (Reis et al, 2016).…”