BACKGROUND: Burnout is a chronic stress syndrome which develops gradually as a consequence of prolonged stress situation. Socio-demographic factors related to job-related burnout have not been studied in the whole population. We investigated the relative differences in the level of burnout between groups based on various socio-demographic factors in the population-based Finnish sample. METHODS: The nationally representative sample comprised 3,424 employees aged 30-64 years. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. The socio-demographic factors of interest were gender, age, education, type of employment, work experience, socio-economic status (SES), working time, and marital status. RESULTS: Only small differences in burnout were found between the different population groups. As a three-dimensional syndrome, burnout was associated with age. In contrast to what has been consistently reported so far, mostly among human service work and in non-representative studies, burnout seemed to increase somewhat with age. Among women, burnout was also related to education, SES, and work experience, and among men, to marital status. CONCLUSIONS: Burnout can evolve in all kinds of vocational groups. It seems that age does not generally protect against burnout. A low education level and low social status carry a possible risk of burnout for women, and being single, divorced, or widowed carry a possible risk of burnout for men.
BACKGROUND: Burnout is a chronic stress syndrome which develops gradually as a consequence of prolonged stress situation. Socio-demographic factors related to job-related burnout have not been studied in the whole population. We investigated the relative differences in the level of burnout between groups based on various socio-demographic factors in the population-based Finnish sample. METHODS: The nationally representative sample comprised 3,424 employees aged 30-64 years. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. The socio-demographic factors of interest were gender, age, education, type of employment, work experience, socio-economic status (SES), working time, and marital status. RESULTS: Only small differences in burnout were found between the different population groups. As a three-dimensional syndrome, burnout was associated with age. In contrast to what has been consistently reported so far, mostly among human service work and in non-representative studies, burnout seemed to increase somewhat with age. Among women, burnout was also related to education, SES, and work experience, and among men, to marital status. CONCLUSIONS: Burnout can evolve in all kinds of vocational groups. It seems that age does not generally protect against burnout. A low education level and low social status carry a possible risk of burnout for women, and being single, divorced, or widowed carry a possible risk of burnout for men.
Authors: Sonja Sulkava; Hanna M Ollila; Kirsi Ahola; Timo Partonen; Katriina Viitasalo; Johannes Kettunen; Maarit Lappalainen; Mika Kivimäki; Jussi Vahtera; Jaana Lindström; Mikko Härmä; Sampsa Puttonen; Veikko Salomaa; Tiina Paunio Journal: Hum Mol Genet Date: 2013-04-24 Impact factor: 6.150
Authors: Sofia Norlund; Christina Reuterwall; Jonas Höög; Bernt Lindahl; Urban Janlert; Lisbeth Slunga Birgander Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2010-06-09 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Björn Karlson; Peter Jönsson; Birgitta Pålsson; Gunnel Abjörnsson; Birgitta Malmberg; Britt Larsson; Kai Osterberg Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2010-06-02 Impact factor: 3.295