The Association of Psychosocial Factors with Burnout among Swedish Hospital Nurses

Sammanfattning: Swedish nurses report high levels of burnout and report their psychosocial work environment to be inadequate. Psychosocial factors as well as individual coping strategies appear to be related to burnout. The aim of the current study is to examine the association between psychosocial factors, individual unfavorable coping strategies and burnout among Swedish hospital nurses. Present study used a cross-sectional questionnaire with Swedish hospital nurses (n=97, 91% women). The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was employed to measure burnout on the two dimensions: exhaustion and disengagement. The Questionnaire of Psychological and Social Factors at Work – Mismatch (QPS-M) was used to assess psychosocial strain in terms of demand, control, reward, values and community. The Theoretically Originated Measure of the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress (TOMCATS) assessed unfavorable coping strategies. Logistic regression was employed to estimate the likelihood of being burnout, dependent on high (n=31), medium (n=32) or low (n=34) levels of psychosocial strain. Main results showed that higher psychosocial strain was associated with a greater likelihood of reporting burnout (OR=31.5, CI=7.88-124.11). These results were robust also when adjusting for unfavorable coping strategies. The significant association between high vs. low psychosocial strain and burnout was reduced, nevertheless not eliminated (OR=18.48, CI=4.44-76.84). This study indicates that the nurses´ psychosocial environment need more focus in future burnout prevention strategies, which is in line with the studies of Shaufeli and Enzmann (1998). These findings support Leiter and Maslachs (1999) theory, that in particular the psychosocial factors; demand, control, community, reward, and values, should be improved.