Self-reported cognitive difficulties and cognitive functioning in relation to emotional exhaustion: Evidence from two studies.

Individuals with burnout often report having difficulties with concentration and memory in everyday life. However, empirical evidence on cognitive decline using performance-based measures is limited and often obtained on small clinical samples. The aim of the present two studies was to investigate cognitive correlates of emotional exhaustion on otherwise healthy populations at different life stages with varying degrees of burnout. A total of 201 graduate and undergraduate students participated in Study 1, and a heterogeneous sample (N = 203) of working individuals took part in Study 2. Cognitive performance was assessed by self-reported cognitive difficulties and three performance-based cognitive tests of sustained attention, inhibition of irrelevant information, and inhibition of prepotent responses. Controlling for gender, age, and depression symptoms, multiple regression analyses in Study 1 indicated a positive relationship between emotional exhaustion and self-reported cognitive difficulties but no correlation with the performance-based cognitive measures. A similar pattern of results emerged in Study 2. However, we found tentative evidence for cognitive impairment on the sustained attention measure. The results of these two studies partially support previous findings and extend the literature on cognitive aspects of burnout.