Relationship Between Effort-Reward Imbalance, Over-Commitment and Occupational Burnout in the General Population: A Prospective Cohort Study

Yara Shoman; Setareh Ranjbar; Marie-Pierre Strippoli; Roland von Känel; Martin Preisig; Irina Guseva Canu

doi:10.3389/ijph.2023.1606160

Relationship Between Effort-Reward Imbalance, Over-Commitment and Occupational Burnout in the General Population: A Prospective Cohort Study

Int J Public Health. 2023 Oct 6:68:1606160. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1606160. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yara Shoman¹, Setareh Ranjbar², Marie-Pierre Strippoli², Roland von Känel³, Martin Preisig², Irina Guseva Canu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Unisante, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
² Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
³ Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zürich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Abstract

Objectives: To prospectively investigate the association between Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) and over-commitment and the scores of the burnout dimensions over a 4 years follow-up period considering potential confounders. Methods: Data stemmed from CoLaus|PsyCoLaus, a population-based cohort study including 575 participants (mean age 55 years, 50% men). Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, ERI and over-commitment questionnaires at baseline (T1) and after a 4 years follow-up (T2), and provided demographic, behavioral, psychiatric, personality and social support information through self-reported questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Serially adjusted linear regression models were used. Results: ERI and over-commitment were not associated longitudinally with any of the burnout dimensions when controlling for confounders. One standard deviation increases in the scores of exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy were associated with one standard deviation increase in the scores of the same burnout dimensions longitudinally, and these associations were independent of the effects of ERI and over-commitment. Conclusion: Future studies should re-examine the effect of ERI and over-commitment on workers' burnout, considering the effects of confounders.

Keywords: burnout; exposure to work-related stress; general population; occupational health; prospective cohort.

MeSH terms

Burnout, Professional* / epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Linear Models
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Reward
Stress, Psychological / epidemiology
Stress, Psychological / psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The authors declare that this study received funding from The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 801076, through the SSPH+ Global PhD Fellowship Program in Public Health Sciences (GlobalP3HS) of the Swiss School of Public Health] and Unisanté via the General Directorate of Health of the Canton of Vaud via the grant of the Commission for Health Promotion and the Fight against Addictions Grant N◦8273/3636000000-801 to support the PhD position of YS; and GlaxoSmithKline, the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne, the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 3200B0–105993, 3200B0-118308, 33CSCO-122661, 33CS30-139468, 33CS30-148401, 33CS30_177535 and 3247730_204523) and the Swiss Personalized Health Network [project: Swiss Ageing Citizen Reference (grant 2018DRI01)] to support The CoLaus|PsyCoLaus study. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.