"...the burnout phenomenon cannot be confined to work because chronic, unresolvable stress - the putative cause of burnout - is not limited to work."

Scand J Psychol. 2014 Apr 21. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12119. [Epub ahead of print]

Is burnout solely job-related? A critical comment.

Bianchi R1, Truchot D, Laurent E, Brisson R, Schonfeld IS.

Author information

• 1University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.

Abstract

Within the field-dominating, multidimensional theory of burnout, burnout is viewed as a work-specific condition. As a consequence, the burnoutsyndrome cannot be investigated outside of the occupational domain. In the present paper, this restrictive view of burnout's scope is criticized and a rationale to decide between a work-specific and a generic approach to burnout is presented. First, the idea that a multidimensional conception ofburnout implies a work-restricted scope is deconstructed. Second, it is shown that the burnout phenomenon cannot be confined to work because chronic, unresolvable stress - the putative cause of burnout - is not limited to work. In support of an integrative view of health, it is concluded that the field-dominating, multidimensional theory of burnout should abandon as groundless the idea that burnout is a specifically job-related phenomenon and define burnout as a multi-domain syndrome. The shift from a work-specific to a generic approach would allow both finer analysis and wider synthesis in research on chronic stress and burnout.