Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis
Fierce debates surround the conceptualization and measurement of job-related distress in occupational health science. The use of burnout as an index of job-related distress, though commonplace, has increasingly been called into question. In this paper, we first highlight foundational problems that u...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.993208/full |
| _version_ | 1811333075607486464 |
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| author | Renzo Bianchi Katarzyna Wac James Francis Sowden Irvin Sam Schonfeld |
| author_facet | Renzo Bianchi Katarzyna Wac James Francis Sowden Irvin Sam Schonfeld |
| author_sort | Renzo Bianchi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fierce debates surround the conceptualization and measurement of job-related distress in occupational health science. The use of burnout as an index of job-related distress, though commonplace, has increasingly been called into question. In this paper, we first highlight foundational problems that undermine the burnout construct and its legacy measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Next, we report on advances in research on job-related distress that depart from the use of the burnout construct. Tracing the genesis of the burnout construct, we observe that (a) burnout’s definition was preestablished rather than derived from a rigorous research process and (b) the MBI has little in the way of a theoretical or empirical foundation. Historical analysis suggests that the burnout construct was cobbled together from unchallenged personal impressions and anecdotal evidence before getting reified by the MBI. This state of affairs may account for many of the disconcerting problems encountered in burnout research. We close our paper by presenting the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), a recently developed instrument reflective of a renewed approach to job-related distress. The ODI has demonstrated robust psychometric and structural properties across countries, sexes, age groups, occupations, and languages. The instrument addresses job-related distress both dimensionally and categorically. A dimensional approach can be useful, for instance, in examining the dynamics of etiological processes and symptom development. A categorical approach can serve screening and diagnostic purposes and help clinicians and public health professionals in their decision-making. It is concluded that the ODI offers occupational health specialists a promising way forward. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:47:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4b8020f1dae04b8cafda4fa52249f57d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:47:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4b8020f1dae04b8cafda4fa52249f57d2022-12-22T02:39:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-09-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.993208993208Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysisRenzo Bianchi0Katarzyna Wac1James Francis Sowden2Irvin Sam Schonfeld3Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, NorwayUniversity of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandFlinders University, Adelaide, SA, AustraliaCity College of New York (CUNY), New York City, NY, United StatesFierce debates surround the conceptualization and measurement of job-related distress in occupational health science. The use of burnout as an index of job-related distress, though commonplace, has increasingly been called into question. In this paper, we first highlight foundational problems that undermine the burnout construct and its legacy measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Next, we report on advances in research on job-related distress that depart from the use of the burnout construct. Tracing the genesis of the burnout construct, we observe that (a) burnout’s definition was preestablished rather than derived from a rigorous research process and (b) the MBI has little in the way of a theoretical or empirical foundation. Historical analysis suggests that the burnout construct was cobbled together from unchallenged personal impressions and anecdotal evidence before getting reified by the MBI. This state of affairs may account for many of the disconcerting problems encountered in burnout research. We close our paper by presenting the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), a recently developed instrument reflective of a renewed approach to job-related distress. The ODI has demonstrated robust psychometric and structural properties across countries, sexes, age groups, occupations, and languages. The instrument addresses job-related distress both dimensionally and categorically. A dimensional approach can be useful, for instance, in examining the dynamics of etiological processes and symptom development. A categorical approach can serve screening and diagnostic purposes and help clinicians and public health professionals in their decision-making. It is concluded that the ODI offers occupational health specialists a promising way forward.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.993208/fullburnoutoccupational depressionmethodologydiagnosisconstruct proliferationhistorical analysis |
| spellingShingle | Renzo Bianchi Katarzyna Wac James Francis Sowden Irvin Sam Schonfeld Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis Frontiers in Psychology burnout occupational depression methodology diagnosis construct proliferation historical analysis |
| title | Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis |
| title_full | Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis |
| title_fullStr | Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis |
| title_short | Burned-out with burnout? Insights from historical analysis |
| title_sort | burned out with burnout insights from historical analysis |
| topic | burnout occupational depression methodology diagnosis construct proliferation historical analysis |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.993208/full |
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