Burnout Syndrome and the Work Design of Education and Health Care Professionals

Abstract This study aimed to identify the predictive power of the Work Design (WD) variables on Burnout Syndrome (BS). The sample consisted of 300 professionals, 188 from the field of education and 112 from health care. Two instruments were used in this research, a reduced version of the Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) and the Brazilian version of the Spanish Burnout Syndrome Inventory (SBI). The results showed that in both professional categories, the factors of work design are predictors of the 4 dimensions of BS, especially factors related to social and task characteristics. In the education field, characteristics of knowledge required by work appear as predictors of only psychological exhaustion; and in health care professionals, as predictors of psychological exhaustion and decreased Enthusiasm towards the job. Implications of these findings will be discussed in terms of their applicability in interventions to prevent BS based on work redesign actions.

摘要 本研究旨在探究工作设计（Work Design, WD）变量对职业倦怠综合征（Burnout Syndrome, BS）的预测效力。研究样本共包含300名从业者，其中188名来自教育领域，112名来自医疗保健行业。本研究采用两款测评工具：简化版工作设计问卷（Work Design Questionnaire, WDQ）以及西班牙版职业倦怠综合征量表（Spanish Burnout Syndrome Inventory, SBI）的巴西本土化版本。结果显示，在两类职业群体中，工作设计的各因子均可显著预测职业倦怠综合征的4个维度，其中与社会特性及任务特性相关的因子预测效应尤为突出。在教育领域从业者中，工作所需的知识特征仅能预测心理耗竭维度；而在医疗保健从业者中，该特征可同时预测心理耗竭与工作热情减退两个维度。本研究将探讨上述研究发现于以工作再设计举措为基础的职业倦怠预防干预中的应用价值。