Relationship between Mindfulness and Burnout among Chinese Pilots: Multiple Mediation through Fatigue and Proactive Coping

Abstract Objective: The present study aimed to examine a possible relationship between mindfulness and burnout among Chinese civil pilots, and to investigate the mediating effects of fatigue and proactive coping.Background: Based on the perspective of the extended job demand–resource model, the current study has extended prior research for identifying the mechanism underlying the roles of personal resource and personal stress in the association between mindfulness and burnout.Method: A representative sample of 319 civil pilots drawn from the China Southern Airlines accomplished self-administrated questionnaires. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized multiple mediation model with Mplus 8.3.Results: Results addressed consistent evidence that mindfulness would play an important part in relieving and preventing burnout. A multiple mediation model showed that mindfulness exerted its indirect effect on burnout through fatigue and proactive coping, χ2 = 940.495, df = 660, χ2/df = 1.425, TLI = .940, CFI = .944, SRMR = .045, RMSEA = .037. Moreover, fatigue mediated the effect of mindfulness on burnout (β = -.074, 95%CI = -.106 to -.036), whereas proactive coping mediated the association between mindfulness and burnout (β = -.842, 95%CI = -1.215 to -.635). Consequently, findings corroborated a predictive role of fatigue and proactive coping, both independently and jointly, in the indirect effect that mindfulness exerted effects on burnout.Conclusion: Theoretical implications in the extended job demand-resource model and practical recommendations for mindfulness training practice and fatigue reduction program were discussed.