Showing papers on "Emotional exhaustion published in 1991"

Emotional Regulation and Emotional Development

Abstract: Current neofunctionalist views of emotion underscore the biologically adaptive and psychologically constructive contributions of emotion to organized behavior, but little is known of the development of the emotional regulatory processes by which this is fostered. Emotional regulation refers to the extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions. This review provides a developmental outline of emotional regulation and its relation to emotional development throughout the life-span. The biological foundations of emotional self-regulation and individual differences in regulatory tendencies are summarized. Extrinsic influences on the early regulation of a child's emotion and their long-term significance are then discussed, including a parent's direct intervention strategies, selective reinforcement and modeling processes, affective induction, and the caregiver's ecological control of opportunity for heightened emotion and its management. Intrinsic contributors to the growth of emotional self-regulatory capacities include the emergence of language and cognitive skills, the child's growing emotional and self-understanding (and cognized strategies of emotional self-control), and the emergence of a “theory of personal emotion” in adolescence.

Job characteristics, role stress and mental health

Abstract: We propose and evaluate a model of mental health in the workplace. Based on Warr's (1987) distinction between job-related and context-free mental health, we hypothesize that indices of job-related affective well-being (work satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) and subjective competence (personal accomplishments at work) mediate the relationships between job characteristics and role stressors on the one hand, and mental health on the other. Confirmatory path analysis of responses from 720 hospital employees showed that all but 4 of the 20 hypothesized effects were significant in the expected direction, and the model provided a good fit to the data. Moreover, the proposed model fits the data better than both a non-mediational model and a model positing an alternate causal sequence. Results are interpreted as providing support for the mediational role of job-related well-being. Some directions for future research linking work and mental health are discussed.

Stress Transmission: The Effects of Husbands' Job Stressors on the Emotional Health of Their Wives.

Abstract: Stress researchers traditionally have focused on stressful life events that people experience personally, ignoring the potentially disruptive effects of stressful events experienced by family members and friends. This study examines the effects of husbands' job stressors on the emotional health of their wives. The hypotheses were tested with interview data from 1,383 married women living in a metropolitan area and with panel data from a small subset (n = 92) of women who were reinterviewed after three months. Husbands' stressors were associated with significantly elevated symptom levels in their wives. Wives' elevated distress was not linked to increased vulnerability to other stressors or to parenting and work demands in the wake of their spouses' job misfortunes. Nor did husbands' job difficulties reduce their ability to provide advice and guidance to their wives. Access to social support did not moderate the impact of husbands' job stressors, but marital tension did, with women in deteriorating marriages reporting fewer symptoms in response to their husbands' stressors. Implications for theory and for a dyadic approach to the study of stress are considered. Misfortunes experienced by family members and close friends often have deleterious effects that ripple throughout a social network. Historical records from the Depression era offer ample evidence of the family stress and disorganization that resulted from the principal wage earner's u employment (e.g., Elder, 1974; Thomas, McCabe, and Berry, 1980). More recent examples are provided by studies of farm families that have b en frayed by the agricultural crisis in this country. These studies document the role strains and emotional burdens that rural wives face in the wake of farm foreclosures that debilitate their husbands (Turkington, 1986). The impact of adverse events experienced by significant others has only recently begun to be investigated systematically but represents a promising direction for increasing the sophistication of research on life stress (Belle, 1982; Eckenrode and Gore, 1981; Thoits, 1987; Thomson and Vaux, 1986). Riley and Eckenrode (1986) hypothesized that undesirable events that occur to close associates may affect one's emotional health through three different processes. First, distress may be a direct result of empathizing with others; "we feel their pain as our own" (p. 771). Second, others' unfortunate events create implicit or explicit demands for us to provide support. If we cannot meet such expectations for support, we are apt to feel anxious or guilty. Third, a crisis experienced by an important member of one's network may reduce the social support available to oneself. Program in Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, CA92717.

A stress management workshop improves residents' coping skills.

Abstract: We describe the effectiveness of a stress management workshop designed for physicians. Of the 64 medicine, pediatrics, and medicine-pediatrics residents who agreed to participate in the workshop, the 43 who could be freed from clinical responsibilities constituted the intervention group; the 21 residents who could not be freed from clinical responsibilities were asked to be the nonintervention group. The ESSI Stress Systems Instrument and Maslach Burnout Inventory were administered to control subjects and workshop participants 2 weeks before and 6 weeks after the workshop. The half-day workshops taught management of the stresses of medical practice through: (1) learning and practicing interpersonal skills that increase the availability of social support; (2) prioritization of personal, work, and educational demands; (3) techniques to increase stamina and attend to self-care needs; (4) recognition and avoidance of maladaptive responses; and (5) positive outlook skills. Overall, the ESSI Stress Systems Instrument test scores for the workshop participants improved (+1.27), while the nonintervention group's mean scores declined (-0.65). All 21 individual ESSI Stress Systems Instrument scale items improved for the workshop, compared with eight of 21 items for the nonintervention group. The workshop group improved in the Maslach Burnout Inventory emotional exhaustion scale and deteriorated less than the nonintervention group in the depersonalization scale. We conclude that a modest, inexpensive stress management workshop was received positively, and can lead to significant short-term improvement in stress and burnout test scores for medicine and pediatrics residents.

Relationships among Burnout, Death Anxiety, and Social Support in Hospice and Critical Care Nurses:

Abstract: The present study was undertaken to compare the occupational stress, levels of burnout, death anxiety, and the social support of a national sample of 376 hospice and critical care nurses. t tests indicated that critical care nurses reported significantly more occupational stress, showed higher burnout, and experienced more death anxiety than hospice nurses. The two nursing groups differed significantly when the three components of the Maslach Burnout Inventory were compared: hospice nurses reported feeling less emotional exhaustion, utilized the technique of depersonalization less frequently, and experienced a greater sense of personal accomplishment. The two nursing groups did not differ in social support when both the quantity and quality of that construct were examined. Pearson coefficients indicated positive associations between burnout and occupational stress and between burnout and death anxiety, with a negative relationship between burnout and social support.

Antecedents and Consequences of Emotional Exhaustion in the Airline Reservations Service Sector

Abstract: The present study investigated several potential antecedents and consequences of emotional exhaustion in a sample (N = 859) of computer-monitored telephone reservation agents. The agents performed their tasks in an environment characterized by tight managerial control and relatively little decision-making latitude. The results of regression analyses indicated that job satisfaction, job-related tension, age, and tenure on the job were each uniquely associated with reports of exhaustion. Exhaustion was, in turn, significantly related to intentions to leave, absenteeism, and actual job change. Supplemental causal modeling of the data using LISREL VI suggested that the implied causal linkages between emotional exhaustion and these outcomes provided a reasonable, albeit imprecise representation of the data.

Identification and investigation of properties of social support

Abstract: In response to the charge by House and Kahn (1985) that there is lack of specificity in conceptualization and measurement of the social support construct, this paper suggests the need to identify and specifically measure discrete properties of the previously identified dimensions (type and source) of social support. Properties are defined as what it is about combinations of source and type that needs to be measured. Based on literature reviews it is suggested that the relevant properties are amount of support, adequacy of support and number of providers of support. Measures are developed for each property. Data from 186 nurses were used to assess main and moderating effects of social support properties, workload and dying patients on emotional exhaustion and physical symptoms. As predicted, support adequacy was related to perceptions of lower workload. As single predictors, amount and adequacy of support reduced physical symptoms and emotional exhaustion. With amount and adequacy controlled, number of providers increased emotional exhaustion. Amount buffered the relationship between death and emotional exhaustion. Moderate levels of adequacy and number buffered the relationship between workload and exhaustion. Both adequacy and amount of support assisted in coping with patient death. In addition, a number of ‘reverse’ buffering and coping relationships were found. It was concluded that examination of different properties of social support increases our understanding of the impact of social support, and that further research needs to examine the simultaneous effects of various combinations of property, type and source of social support.

Nurse burnout: work related and demographic factors as culprits.

Abstract: This study was an examination of the combined ability of perceived work environment, demographic, and work-related variables to predict burnout among 314 nurses at a large metropolitan hospital. The three dimensions of burnout measured were emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. High work pressure and low work involvement and supervisor support predicted emotional exhaustion. Task orientation, work pressure, work involvement, and age predicted both depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Burnout among nurses on each of the three work shifts also was examined. Results are discussed from the perspective of how to decrease or to prevent burnout among nurses.

The Experience and Expression of Emotion in the Workplace:A Study of a Corrections Organization

Abstract: This study evaluated Rafaeli and Sutton's (1989) model of emotional expression in the workplace by examining descriptions of emotional interactions occurring among members of a state government agency. The results indicated that qualities of felt emotions influenced emotional expression, which in turn yielded changed relational perceptions and changed communication behavior subsequent to the emotional event. Content analysis of the event descriptions resulted in preliminary generalizations about the types of emotions experienced by members, the nature of repressed emotional messages, and the dimensions of relationship changes stemming from the emotional events. The results are interpreted as evidence of the importance of emotional communication in relationship reformulation and are consistent with Van Maanen and Kunda's (1989) recent depiction of emotional control as part of organizational culture.

Locus of Control, Pupil Control Ideology, and Dimensions of Teacher Burnout.

Abstract: -nvestigations are needed to illuminate how teachers at different degrees of burnout perceive stressful situations (either internally or externally) and how they perceive the control of pupil behavior. This paper summarizes a study exploring whether there is a direct relationship between: (1) locus of control and teacher burnout; (2) pupil control ideology and teacher burnout; and (3) locus of control and pupil control ideology. To test these hypotheses, operational measures such as the Pupil Control Ideology, the Internal-External Locus of Control Sccae, and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used. The study sample consisted of 191 public school teachers from 13 schools located in a large Midwestern city. The schools are interracial and cross-cultural centers employing primarily Afro-American, Caucasian, and Hispanic teachers serving studlnts of similar ethnic backgrounds. Results supported the first hypothesis that described individuals with an external locus of control as probably having fewer coping strategies than those with an internal locus of control. Findings also supported the second hypothesis; teachers who have a custodial pupil control ideology will most likely also experience more emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a lack of personal accomplishment. The third hypothesis was also supported; teachers with a custodial pupil control ideology appear to have an external locus of control. (46 references) (MLH)

Job Stress in General Practice: Practitioner Age, Sex and Attitudes as Predictors

Abstract: South Australian general practitioners (n = 966) provided information in a questionnaire study about four indicators of job stress: the burnout components of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment, and a three-item measure of job dissatisfaction. As job stress can arise from discrepancies between the nature of the work and the expectations of the worker, attitudes to general practice form and content were surveyed, using an existing Australian scale. This study largely replicated the factor structure originally reported for the scale. Up to one third of respondents reported significant levels of job stress, which varied according to age and sex as well as attitudes to general practice.

An investigation of social support and burnout among residential counselors

Abstract: Maslach and Jackson's (1986) three dimensions of burnout, emotional exhaustion, lack of personal accomplishment and depersonalization, were investigated among 78 counselors at a short-term, residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. Two waves of data were collected so that possible changes in burnout over time could be assessed. Measures of co-worker support (team cohesion and perceived quality of friendships) were better predictors of burnout than supervisor support. High levels of co-worker support were consistently and positively related to greater personal accomplishment. Levels of personal accomplishment increased and emotional exhaustion decreased as staff accumulated more counseling experience. Women residential counselors experienced higher levels of emotional exhaustion than did their male counterparts. Initial levels of burnout were powerful predictors of later levels of burnout. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for human services providers are discussed.

Burnout among staff members at community residential facilities for persons with mental retardation.

Abstract: The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure burnout among 125 staff members working in community residential facilities for persons with mental retardation in North Dakota. Results showed that a moderate degree of burnout was present for direct-care and supervisory staff members in each of the three subscales of the inventory. In addition, supervisory staff members showed significantly more burnout on the Emotional Exhaustion subscale and significantly less on the Personal Accomplishment subscale than did direct-care staff members. Results were discussed in light of previous findings.

The measurement of burnout revisited.

Abstract: Throughout the literature, burnout has been conceptualized as encompassing three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Interview and questionnaire data from 95 human service workers examine a conceptual model linking burnout to selected work characteristics and professionalism. Derived from theory and based on factor analysis, multiple-item subscales are established for work characteristics (autonomy, role conflict, role ambiguity and workload), professionalism (job involvement, intrinsic motwation and higher order needs satisfaction) and burnout (the three dimensions). Intercorrelations among the subscales and a path analysis lead to the conclusion that burnout requires reconceptualization theoretically and operationally. Of the three alleged dimensions of burnout, only emotional exhaustion is found to be a valid and reliable measure.

The relationship of scores on the educators survey, a modified version of the Maslach burnout inventory, to three teaching-related variables for a sample of 132 beginning teachers

Abstract: For a sample of 133 beginning teachers, the relationship of three teaching-related variables identified as (a) the extent to which the teacher perceived teacher-training courses prepared him or her for the first years of teaching, (b) the level of workload experienced during the first three years of teaching, and (c) if an individual were to begin his or her career again, would he or she select teaching as the first career choice to three measures of burnout (Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment). Correlation data were obtained and a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted in which the three teaching-related variables served as predictors. Findings indicated that, for a subsample of female beginning teachers, two of the three variables (perceived adequacy of training and choosing teaching as a career) served as moderately valid predictors of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization measures.

Determinants and Correlates of Faculty Burn‐out in US Research Universities

Abstract: The relationships between support variables (work significance, collegial support and chairperson′s support) and indicators of faculty burn‐out (emotional exhaustion and feeling of personal accomplishment) are examined. In addition, the relationships between the syndrome of faculty burnout and its potential consequences (organisational commitment and recent research performance) are explored. The study is conducted using a sample of faculty members from 40 research university departments, ten each in physics, sociology, electrical engineering, and education. The major findings are: support indicators are the most influential determinants of emotional exhaustion in physics and the least influential in sociology and education; the same support indicators have the maximal explanatory power with regard to personal accomplishment in physics, and the minimal explanatory power in education; emotional exhaustion is related strongly to commitment and recent published articles in hard sciences, whereas the same rel...

Burnout en enfermeria:un estudio comparativo españa-holanda

Abstract: The present article offers a comparative study in Burnout levels obtained with two samples of Spanish and Dutch professional nurses. The Spanish sample are 39 and the Dutch sample are 105 both male and female professional nurses. The Burnout level was testing with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results obtained show that the Burnout level, considering the means scores in all scales of the MBI, is in the Spanish sample higher than in the Dutch sample, but the differences are only significative in the emotional exhaustion scale. The depersonalization feeling in males was significatively bigger than in females, taking the, two samples as one sample. In the personal accomplishment level the differences were significante with the nation-sex interaction. Therefore, the Spanish male professional nurses have a higher personal accomplishment feeling than Spanish female professional nurses, when they are compared with their Dutch fellows.

Prevalence of burnout among military dentists.

Abstract: Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do "people work" of some kind. Health care providers, including dentists, are at high risk for burnout because their occupations often require intense interactions between themselves and fearful, demanding patients on a daily basis. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of burnout among military dentists practicing at a large installation using a standardized measurement device, the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results indicate that the military dentists surveyed experience low to moderate levels of burnout. The military dentists sampled, in general, scored lower for burnout when compared to the norms of society and medicine.

Psychosocial Correlates of Burnout and Depression in HIV Counselors.

Abstract: Job stress in health care professionals who provide care to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients has been a subject of interest to a number of health center and hospital physicians, administrators, and to some extent, behavioral scientists. In this study psychosocial correlates of burnout and depression in HIV counselors were investigated using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the depression scale (D-Scale) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Rotter's Internal/External Locus of Control Scale (I/E Scale) and several questionnaires containing demographic and psychological variables. The three subscales of Burnout (i.e. Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Achievement) and the D-Scale constituted the four dependent variables. Subjects (N=102) including 23 males and 79 females involved in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) counseling participated in this study. Subjects ranged in age from 21 to 71 years old. Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to determine the contributing factors of Burnout and Depression amongst HIV counselors. Results suggested that both dispositional and environmental factors play a role in the experience of burnout and depression among HIV counselors. Prominent among the variables affecting both Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization was the impact of the working environment and job demands faced by HIV counselors. (ABL) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. * ***********************************************************************

Burnout phenomenon and its occupational risk factors among Japanese hospital nurses.

Abstract: To identify and evaluate recent working conditions and job content of hospital nurses in Japan, as well as the prevalence of the burnout phenomenon and the occupational risk factors responsible for it, a questionnaire survey was carried out. The subjects consisted of 898 nurses and 255 municipal service workers as the control group. Working conditions and workload burdens were more severe among nurses than among the municipal workers. The burnout phenomenon among the nurses was characterized by emotional exhaustion as well as depersonalization. Moreover, the rate ratio and multivariate analyses indicated that a great variety of occupational factors, not only interpersonal relationships, but the general working conditions and specific physical or mental workloads influenced the burnout phenomenon as well. Therefore, in examining measures dealing with the burnout phenomenon among nurses, it is considered important to evaluate the occupational factors systematically and comprehensively.