Physicians and other healthcare professionals experience a high risk of burnout, especially during infectious disease epidemics. A longitudinal survey of physicians in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to assess various risk factors for burnout in the context of a pandemic. We draw from the multi-level model of clinician burnout. This paper focuses on the association between personal coping practices (sleep, mindfulness, gratitude) and burnout indices, as well as the contribution of between-person and within-person effects of personal practices on reducing burnout. Participants were physicians practicing in Canada with a full, provisional, or post-graduate in-training license. The survey was distributed beginning on May 13, 2020, and data was collected monthly for 5 months. Measured personal coping practices included average hours of sleep and days practicing gratitude or mindfulness during the preceding week. Study hypotheses were tested using three multilevel multiple-regression models. One extra hour of sleep was associated with a 0.19 to 0.40 unit (between-subjects) decrease in exhaustion on a five-point scale. Hours of sleep was a consistent predictor of cynicism at the between-subjects (95

This article critically examines the misconception that burnout is unrelated to work conditions, arguing that such a stance perpetuates a harmful tradition of absolving exploitative and poorly managed workplaces of responsibility for employee distress. This perspective disregards a well-established body of research on burnout, leading to distorted interpretations of empirical data. While individuals may experience distress across multiple life domains, this does not negate the significant role that workplace conditions play in the development of burnout. The failure to acknowledge these systemic factors results in analytical missteps, including the erroneous conflation of burnout with clinical depression. Although both conditions share some symptomatic overlap, they remain distinct in terms of etiology, diagnostic criteria, and intervention strategies. By equating burnout with a medicalized framework of individual pathology, organizations and policymakers obscure the structural and managerial deficiencies that contribute to workplace stress. This article highlights the necessity of maintaining conceptual clarity in burnout research to ensure that interventions target the organizational factors that drive burnout rather than reducing the issue to an individualized psychological disorder. A more accurate understanding of burnout is essential for designing evidence-based policies and workplace reforms that promote employee wellbeing and sustainable work environments.

BackgroundThe Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) stands as the preeminent tool for assessing burnout across various professions. Although the MBI-GS9 emerged as a derivative of the MBI-GS and has seen extensive use over several years, a comprehensive examination of its psychometric properties has yet to be undertaken.MethodsThis study followed the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing guidelines to validate the MBI-GS9. Employing a combined approach of classical test theory and item response theory, particularly Rasch analysis, within an integrated framework, the study analyzed data from 16,132 participants gathered between 2005 and 2015 by the Centre for Organizational Research at Acadia University.ResultsThe findings revealed that the MBI-GS9 exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity akin to its predecessor, the MBI-GS. Across its three dimensions, Cronbach’s α and omega coefficients ranged from 0.84 to 0.91. Notably, the MBI-GS9 displayed no floor/ceiling effects and demonstrated good item fit, ordered threshold, acceptable person and item separation and reliability, clear item difficulty hierarchy, and a well-distributed item threshold. However, the results suggested a recommended minimum sample size of 350 to mitigate potential information loss when employing the MBI-GS9. Beyond this threshold, the observed mean difference between the MBI-GS and MBI-GS9 held minimal practical significance. Furthermore, measurement equivalence tests indicated that the MBI-GS9 maintained an equivalent three-factor structure and factor loadings across various gender, age, and continent groups, albeit with inequivalent latent values across continents.ConclusionIn sum, the MBI-GS9 emerges as a reliable and valid alternative to the MBI-GS, particularly when utilized within large, diverse samples across different age and gender demographics. However, to address potential information loss, a substantial sample size is recommended when employing the MBI-GS9. In addition, for cross-cultural comparisons, it is imperative to initially assess equivalence across different language versions at both the item and scale levels.

BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic represented substantial risks to hospital workers' physical and mental health. The availability of validated measures on the impact of the pandemic on workplaces is crucial for developing data-driven interventions. The primary purpose of our study was to translate it into Italian and assess factor structure, psychometric properties, and measurement invariance of the Pandemic Experiences and Perceptions Scale (PEPS). METHODS:The survey was completed by 766 workers from an Italian hospital. We examined the internal structure of the PEPS using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) techniques and testing the invariance for clinical vs. nonclinical workers. RESULTS:The six-factor ESEM solution showed an excellent fit to the data (CFI=0.956, TLI=0.932, RMSEA=0.050), supporting the superiority of the ESEM solution. The factorial invariance of the PEPS across occupational roles (clinical vs. nonclinical hospital workers) was supported, and the ESEM-based McDonald's omega was good for all factors. CONCLUSIONS:The results from this study provided evidence for the factorial validity, reliability, and measurement invariance across occupational roles of the Italian version of the PEPS. Thus, the Italian version of the PEPS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing pandemic experiences and perceptions among Italian workers.

Physician depression and anxiety increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to determine what pandemic-related factors might be responsible for this increase, using a cross-sectional survey of Canadian physicians. Risk factors measured included the Pandemic Experiences and Perceptions Scale (PEPS) subscales (impact, adequacy, risk perception and worklife), COVID-19 preparedness, level of contact with COVID-19, and the number of provincial COVID-19 cases. In total, 309 completed the primary outcomes, with 20.1% experiencing symptoms of depression and 43.2% of anxiety. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated significant relationships between risk perception and areas of worklife to anxiety and to depression. The effect of worklife quality was partially mediated through reductions in risk perception. Areas of worklife explained 6% of the variance of risk perception. The explanatory variables in the model described 33% of the variability in anxiety and 28% of the variability in depression. Areas of work-life and risk perception were both significant contributors to depression and anxiety among physicians during early stages of the pandemic. To reduce symptoms, the aim of healthcare organizations should be to ensure adequate resources, reduce risk perception, improve communication and education regarding what is known about pandemics or crises.

PurposeThis study aims to propose a model to examine the relationship between authentic leadership (AL), civility and burnout among health-care employees. This model proposes that civility mediates the relationship between AL and burnout. Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 360 (72% response rate) registered health-care employees working in two large public hospital centers in Lisbon, Portugal. The sample was predominantly female (79.4%). The instruments used to measure the variables were the AL inventory, workplace civility scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Hayes' PROCESS macro for mediation analysis in SPSS was used to test the hypothesized model. FindingsThe results suggest that AL has a positive direct effect on civility, adding to the negative effect of the aforementioned variables on burnout. Furthermore, civility was found to have a mediating effect on AL and burnout. Research limitations/implicationsThis study may be useful for hospital management and the health-care sector as a whole, underlining the importance of AL and civility in preventing detrimental effects of burnout among health-care employees. Originality/valueConsidering that mainstream literature on AL mainly focuses on nurses, there is a scarcity of literature integrating the relationship between AL, civility and burnout among a wide range of occupational groups in the health-care sector. Furthermore, the research model has not been previously introduced when considering the mediating role of civility in the relationship between AL and burnout.

In the contemporary world of work, organizational change is a constant. For change to be successful, employees need to be positive about implementing organizational change. Change engagement reflects the extent to which employees are enthusiastic about change, and willing to actively involve themselves in promoting and supporting ongoing organizational change. Drawing from Kahn's engagement theory, the research aimed to assess the influence of change-related meaningful work, psychological safety, and self-efficacy as psychological preconditions for change engagement. The study also aimed to test the indirect associations of the change-related psychological preconditions with proactive work behavior through change engagement. Survey data from a Prolific sample (N = 297) were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling. In support of the validity of the model, the results showed that change-related self-efficacy, psychological safety, and meaningfulness had significant direct effects on change engagement, explaining 88% of the variance. The change-related psychological conditions also had significant indirect effects on proactive work behavior through change engagement. The findings therefore suggest that employees who exhibit higher levels of change-related self-efficacy, psychological safety, and work meaningfulness are more likely to support and promote organizational change, and to proactively engage in innovative work behavior. In practical terms, organizations that create the psychological conditions for change could significantly improve employee motivation to change and to innovate, which in turn would increase the likelihood of successful organizational change, and improved organizational competitiveness. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

For organizations to achieve their environmental obligations and objectives, they need employees to actively engage with environmental policies, practices, procedures, and initiatives. Based on engagement theory, a model is proposed that shows how perceived corporate environmental responsibility, pro-environmental job resources, and pro-environmental psychological capital influence employee pro-environmental engagement at work. Survey responses were collected from a Prolific sample of 347 full-time and part-time employees, aged 18–80, working within Australian organizations across a range of occupations. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling provided broad support for the measures and the relationships proposed in the model. The model explained 64% of the variance in pro-environmental job resources, 90% of the variance in pro-environmental psychological capital, and 92% of the variance in pro-environmental engagement. Overall, the results suggest that for employees to feel enthusiastic and involved in pro-environmental initiatives at work, an integrated approach that takes account of perceived corporate environmental responsibility, pro-environmental job resources, and pro-environmental psychological capital is required. The results also provide brief, defensible measures of pro-environmental PsyCap, pro-environmental job resources and pro-environmental engagement that can be used to assess and target employee attitudes toward pro-environmental initiatives and opportunities. As such, the pro-environmental engagement model can help guide the design and implementation of evidence-based employee-focused interventions that will help achieve environmental sustainability objectives.

Physician burnout remains a significant threat to the viability of Canada's health care system. Between November 2019 and March 2020, an engagement and burnout survey was completed by BC Cancer oncology physicians (n = 258) and Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology members (n = 333). The survey completion rates for BC Cancer and the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology were 62% and 72%, respectively. We used national Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology data as a contrasting benchmark to compare the level of engagement and burnout in BC to that of national oncology staff. Eighty-eight percent of radiation oncologists, 77% of medical oncologists, and 41% of general practitioners in oncology had negative scores in at least one of the three burnout domains (exhaustion, cynicism, or inefficacy), and the full burnout syndrome (negative scores in all three domains) was recorded in 22% of BC oncology physicians, which was the highest in the country. BC Cancer oncology physicians reported the lowest work engagement in Canada and cited concerns about poor workplace efficiency, heavy workloads, lack of control and input into administrative policies, and impaired ability to provide high-quality care. A prevalent attitude of "excellent collegial atmosphere'and willingness to "try something new," partnered with an engaged administration, might enable the development of strategies to improve the well-being of the oncology physician workforce, and consequently the delivery of cancer care in BC.

Our survey showed that only 25% of Canadian radiation oncologists are fully engaged in their work, whereas 15% met the strict criteria for burnout and 44% met the commonly used burnout criteria. With the rising incidence of cancer and complexity of care, there is an urgent need for system change, leverage enthusiasm to "try something new", and develop appropriate strategies to improve the well-being of the Canadian radiation oncologist workforce.

EDITORIAL article Front. Psychol., 25 February 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.859660