An Instrument to Operationalize the Balance between Risks and Resources and Predict Job Burnout

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 17; p. 9416
• Main Authors: Bebiroglu, Neda, Bayot, Marie, Brion, Benjamin, Denis, Léopold, Pirsoul, Thomas, Roskam, Isabelle, Mikolajczak, Moïra
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 06.09.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Burnout; Burnout, Professional; counterproductive behaviors at work; Cross-Sectional Studies; Employees; health; Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis; Humans; job demands; job resources; Job satisfaction; job turnover intention; Literature reviews; Longitudinal Studies; Occupational health; Occupational stress; Personnel Turnover; Pollution; Psychologie cognitive & théorique; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Questionnaires; Risk factors; Sciences sociales & comportementales, psychologie; Sleep disorders; Social & behavioral sciences, psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Theoretical & cognitive psychology; Working conditions
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18179416

The goal of the present paper was to develop a valid and reliable instrument to operationalize the balance between job demands and resources in order to predict job burnout. After generating the items, we first conducted a cross-sectional study (Study 1) based on 656 participants, which provided preliminary evidence for the validity of the balance. We then conducted a longitudinal study (Study 2) based on 882 participants to improve and validate the final version of the balance. In study 1, the (im)balance between risks and resources explained a high percentage of variance in job burnout (44%) and a significant percentage in job turnover intention (27%) as well as subjective health (12%). In study 2, results indicated that a change in the balance produced significant change in job burnout scores over time. In addition, balance scores positively predicted positive outcomes (i.e., overall job satisfaction and subjective health) and negatively predicted negative outcomes (i.e., job turnover intention, counterproductive behaviors at work, depression, alcohol use, sleep disorders and somatic complaints). Findings support the usefulness of the Balance for clinicians, companies and researchers interested in assessing job demands and resources.