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The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) reflects a novel approach to job-related distress anchored in depression research. To date, the extent to which the ODI exhibits measurement invariance across countries, languages, and demographics is unclear. Measurement invariance refers to whether a measure has the same structure, or meaning, across groups of interest. Measurement invariance is thus crucial for between-group comparisons and study replicability. This study estimated the measurement invariance of the ODI across 14 countries – Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA – and 10 languages as well as across sexes and age groups (pooled N = 12,589). We found evidence for complete measurement invariance (configural, weak, strong, and strict) across countries, languages, sexes, and age groups. Looking into the invariance of structural parameters, we found latent variance-covariance invariance to hold across countries, languages, and sexes and to be equivocal across age groups. Expectedly, the levels of occupational depression, as indexed by latent means, varied within the four categories. Our results indicate that the ODI behaves similarly across countries, languages, sexes, and age groups. Our findings support the use of the ODI with respondents having different cultural backgrounds and individual characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers perspectives on the definition of burnout embodied in the Maslack Burnouot Inventory and incorporated into the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11. It points out the lack of uncertainty about exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy as the symptoms of stress, as well as the lack of evidence that burnout is caused by workplace stress. It cautions the about the risk of underdiagnosis and untreatment of depression and calls for revision of burnout status.

The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) was recently developed to assess depressive symptoms that individuals specifically attribute to their work. One purpose of the ODI is to respond to limitations of current assessments of job‐related distress, most notably, assessments relying on the burnout construct. In this study, we conducted a thorough examination of the psychometric and structural properties of the ODI using exploratory structural equation modelling bifactor analysis and Mokken scale analysis. The study involved three samples of employed individuals, recruited in France (N = 3454), Switzerland (N = 1971), and Australia (N = 1485). Results were consistent across the three samples. The ODI exhibited essential unidimensionality and excellent total‐score reliability―as indexed by McDonald's omega, Cronbach's alpha, Guttman's lambda‐2, and the Molenaar‐Sijtsma statistic. We found evidence for measurement invariance across sexes, age groups, and samples. Mokken scale analysis revealed that the ODI's scalability was strong. No monotonicity violation was detected. Invariant item ordering showed sufficient accuracy. In all three samples, suicidal ideation was the least commonly endorsed item―thus acting as a sentinel item―and fatigue/loss of energy was the most commonly endorsed item. The ODI exhibits excellent psychometric and structural properties, suggesting that occupational health specialists can effectively employ the instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fierce debates surround the conceptualization and measurement of jobrelated distress in occupational health science. The use of burnout as an index of job-related distress, though commonplace, has increasingly been called into question. In this paper, we first highlight foundational problems that undermine the burnout construct and its legacy measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Next, we report on advances in research on job-related distress that depart from the use of the burnout construct. Tracing the genesis of the burnout construct, we observe that (a) burnout's definition was preestablished rather than derived from a rigorous research process and (b) the MBI has little in the way of a theoretical or empirical foundation. Historical analysis suggests that the burnout construct was cobbled together from unchallenged personal impressions and anecdotal evidence before getting reified by the MBI. This state of affairs may account for many of the disconcerting problems encountered in burnout research. We close our paper by presenting the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), a recently developed instrument reflective of a renewed approach to job-related distress. The ODI has demonstrated robust psychometric and structural properties across countries, sexes, age groups, occupations, and languages. The instrument addresses job-related distress both dimensionally and categorically. A dimensional approach can be useful, for instance, in examining the dynamics of etiological processes and symptom development. A categorical approach can serve screening and diagnostic purposes and help clinicians and public health professionals in their decisionmaking. It is concluded that the ODI offers occupational health specialists a promising way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout has been found to problematically overlap with depression. However, the generalizability of this finding remains disputed. This study examined burnout--depression overlap using the recently developed Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) and two burnout measures, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The study involved two teacher samples employed in France (N = 1,450) and New Zealand (N = 492). We found the correlations of the ODI with (a) the MBI's emotional exhaustion (EE) subscale and (b) the CBI to reach .80. An explanation of these high correlations based on content overlap in fatigue-related items was ruled out. The ODI--EE and ODI--CBI correlations were significantly stronger than the correlations among the MBI's subscales. Exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analyses revealed that the ODI captures what the MBI's EE subscale and the CBI measure. The general factor explained 86% of the common variance extracted when considering ODI and EE items and 89% when considering ODI and CBI items. The findings indicate that burnout's exhaustion core is part of a depressive syndrome. Importantly, the ODI not only assesses exhaustion but also each of the other core symptoms of major depression, including suicidal thoughts. In contrast to burnout measures, the ODI allows for both a dimensional and a diagnostic approach to job-related distress, consistent with the history of clinical research on depression. Moreover, the ODI has demonstrated particularly robust psychometric and structural properties in past research. The ODI's value for occupational medical specialists in replacing burnout measures is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the evolving understanding of burnout over the past fifty years, particularly questioning its etiology, diagnosis, and classification. Topics include the limited impact of job stressors on burnout, challenges in accurately diagnosing burnout, and the ongoing debate about distinguishing burnout from depression.

Burnout has been viewed as a work-induced condition combining exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy. Using correlational analyses, an exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis, structural regression analyses, and a network analysis, we examined the claim that burnout should not be mistaken for a depressive syndrome. The study involved 1,258 educational staff members. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey and depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Illegitimate work tasks and work–nonwork interferences were additionally measured. We notably found that (a) on average, exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy correlated less strongly with each other than with depression; (b) exhaustion―burnout's core―was more strongly associated with depression than with either cynicism or professional inefficacy; (c) the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 did not correlate more strongly with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale than with exhaustion; (d) exhaustion and depression loaded primarily on a general distress/dysphoria factor in the exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis; (e) on average, burnout and depression were related to job stressors in a similar manner; (f) work–nonwork interferences were strongly linked to distress/dysphoria. Overall, burnout showed no syndromal unity and lacked discriminant validity. Clinicians should systematically assess depressive symptoms in individuals presenting with a complaint of "burnout." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample of 1015 educational staff members, exhibiting various levels of burnout and depressive symptoms, underwent a memory test involving incident encoding of positive and negative words and a free recall task. Burnout and depression were each found to be associated with increased recall of negative items and decreased recall of positive items. Results remained statistically significant when controlling for history of depressive disorders. Burnout and depression were not related to mistakes in the reported words, or to the overall number of recalled words. This study suggests that burnout and depression overlap in terms of memory biases toward emotional information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we addressed the ongoing debate about what burnout and depression scales measure by conducting an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) bifactor analysis. A sample of 734 U.S. teachers completed a survey that included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D-10), the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which contains emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and (diminished) personal accomplishment (PA) subscales. Job adversity and workplace support were additionally measured for the purpose of a nomological network analysis. EE, burnout's core, was more highly correlated with the depression and anxiety scales than it was with DP and PA, even with controls for item content overlap. The CES-D-10, PHQ-9, GAD-7, and EE subscale of the MBI were similarly related to job adversity and workplace support. ESEM bifactor analysis revealed that the CES-D-10, PHQ-9, GAD-7, and EE items loaded highly on a general factor, which we labeled nonspecific psychological distress (NSPD). We conclude that depression, anxiety, and EE scales reflect NSPD. DP items largely reflect two factors, NSPD and depersonalization, about equally. PA items were found to be less related to NSPD. With respect to the debate surrounding burnout-depression overlap, our findings do not support the view that the burnout construct represents a syndrome that consists of EE, DP, and diminished PA and excludes (or does not primarily include) depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout has been defined as a condition in which individuals are left exhausted by a long‐term confrontation with unmanageable job stressors. The question of whether burnout reflects anything other than depressive responses to unresolvable stress remains an object of debate. In this 911‐participant study (83% female; mean age: 42.36), we further addressed the issue of burnout‐depression overlap. Burnout was assessed with the exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory‐General Survey (MBI‐GS) and depression with the PHQ‐8. The relationships of burnout and depression with three job‐related variables – illegitimate work tasks, work‐nonwork interference, and job satisfaction – and three “context‐free” variables – social support, general health status, and trait anxiety – were examined. Burnout and depression were found to be strongly correlated, to cluster together, and to exhibit overlapping nomological networks. Remarkably, the average correlations of burnout and depression with job‐related variables were almost identical. A principal component analysis and a principal axis factor analysis both showed that the items of the MBI‐GS and of the PHQ‐8 loaded on a single dimension. All in all, our findings are consistent with the view that burnout is a depressive condition. The distinction between burnout and depression may be an instance of the jangle fallacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this 257-participant study (76% female; mean age: 44.84), we examined two ideas that are widespread among burnout researchers: (a) the idea that burnout is primarily related to occupationallevel factors; and (b) the idea that burnout should be considered a sentinel indicator in research on negative occupational outcomes. We investigated the links between burnout and a series of generic and work-related variables, namely, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, extraversion, effort-reward imbalance in the job [ERI], social support at work (SSW), and turnover intention. Burnout was assessed with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure, depressive symptoms with the PHQ-9, neuroticism and extraversion with the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, ERI with the 10-item version of the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, SSW with the Job Content Questionnaire, and turnover intention with a dedicated 3-item measure. Correlation, multiple regression, and relative weight analyses were conducted. Burnout was not found to be more strongly linked to organizational and work-contextualized variables than to personality traits. In addition, turnover intention was not associated to a greater extent with burnout than with ERI. Burnout and depressive symptoms were highly correlated and exhibited overlapping nomological networks. Overall, our findings question the way burnout has been generally conceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether burnout is associated with a depressive cognitive style, understood as a combination of dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions. A total of 1386 U.S. public school teachers were included—1063 women ( M AGE : 42.73, SD AGE = 11.36) and 323 men ( M AGE : 44.60, SD AGE = 11.42). Burnout was assessed with the Shirom–Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM). Dysfunctional attitudes were measured with the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale Short Form, ruminative responses with the Ruminative Responses Scale, and pessimistic attributions with the Depressive Attributions Questionnaire. For comparative purposes, depression was assessed using the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions were each similarly associated with burnout and depression. Moreover, the correlations between the SMBM and the PHQ-9 that we observed were comparable to the correlations between the SMBM and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey reported in past research. Dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions were more characteristic of individuals with high frequencies of burnout (or depressive) symptoms than of their counterparts with low frequencies of burnout (or depressive) symptoms. This study suggests that burned out individuals live in a depressive cognitive world, consistent with the view that burnout is a depressive syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the overlap in burnout and depression. Method: The sample comprised 1,386 schoolteachers (mean [M]age = 43; Myears taught = 15; 77% women) from 18 different U.S. states. We assessed burnout, using the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure, and depression, using the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire. Results: Treated dimensionally, burnout and depressive symptoms were strongly correlated (.77; disattenuated correlation, .84). Burnout and depressive symptoms were similarly correlated with each of 3 stress-related factors, stressful life events, job adversity, and workplace support. In categorical analyses, 86% of the teachers identified as burned out met criteria for a provisional diagnosis of depression. Exploratory analyses revealed a link between burnout and anxiety. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that past research has underestimated burnout-depression overlap. The state of burnout is likely to be a form of depression. Given the magnitude of burnout-depression overlap, treatments for depression may help workers identified as "burned out." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether interpersonal rejection sensitivity (IRS) – the hallmark of atypical depression – prospectively predicted burnout, controlling for baseline symptoms, history of depressive disorders, antidepressant intake, gender, age, and length of employment (mean between-assessment duration: 21 months; n = 578; 74% female). IRS was related to a 119% increased risk of burnout at follow-up. Three of four burned out participants reported to be affected by IRS, or 2.5 times the rate observed in participants with no (or subthreshold) burnout symptoms. Our study highlights a dispositional factor in burnout’s etiology also known to be a key component of atypical depression’s etiology. The ontogenesis of individual vulnerabilities to burnout should be further examined in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether burnout is a form of depression or a distinct phenomenon is an object of controversy. The aim of the present article was to provide an up-to-date review of the literature dedicated to the question of burnout–depression overlap. A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed, PsycINFO, and IngentaConnect. A total of 92 studies were identified as informing the issue of burnout–depression overlap. The current state of the art suggests that the distinction between burnout and depression is conceptually fragile. It is notably unclear how the state of burnout (i.e., the end stage of the burnout process) is conceived to differ from clinical depression. Empirically, evidence for the distinctiveness of the burnout phenomenon has been inconsistent, with the most recent studies casting doubt on that distinctiveness. The absence of consensual diagnostic criteria for burnout and burnout research's insufficient consideration of the heterogeneity of depressive disorders constitute major obstacles to the resolution of the raised issue. In conclusion, the epistemic status of the seminal, field-dominating definition of burnout is questioned. It is suggested that systematic clinical observation should be given a central place in future research on burnout–depression overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether burnout and depression cover the same psychopathology remains to be elucidated. To date, subtypes of depression have been overlooked in research on the burnout-depression overlap. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders in workers with burnout while examining the overlap of burnout with the atypical subtype of depression. The present study included 5,575 schoolteachers (mean age = 41 years; 78% female). Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Depression was measured with the 9-item depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Atypical features of depression were examined using a dedicated module, referenced to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). We found that 90% of the teachers identified as burned out met diagnostic criteria for depression. Among them, 92% scored 15 or higher on the PHQ-9, a threshold at which active treatment with pharmacotherapy and/or psychotherapy is recommended. The features of atypical depression were observed in 63% of the burned-out participants with major depression. Emotional exhaustion, the hallmark of burnout, was more strongly associated with depression than with depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment, the 2 other putative dimensions of burnout. The present study suggests that the burnout-depression overlap has been largely underestimated. Atypical depression may account for a substantial part of this overlap. Overall, our findings point to depressive symptoms and depressive disorders as central concerns in the management of burnout. The clinical research on treatments for depression offers solutions that may help workers identified as burned out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the field-dominating, multidimensional theory of burnout, burnout is viewed as a work-specific condition. As a consequence, the burnout syndrome 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 of burnout 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There is mounting evidence that burnout problematically overlaps with depression. However, the generalizability of this finding remains debated. This study examined the burnout-depression distinction based on a recently developed measure of work-attributed depressive symptoms-the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI).Methods: We relied on a sample of 891 Australian teachers. The ODI was employed to assess work-attributed depressive symptoms. The Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) were employed to assess burnout symptoms. The SMBM assesses burnout as a syndrome combining physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion. The OLBI assesses burnout as a syndrome of exhaustion and disengagement.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the factors underlying burnout's components correlated more highly with the Occupational Depression factor than with each other, calling into question the syndromal unity of burnout. Moreover, the factors underlying burnout's components and the Occupational Depression factor were reflective of a common higher-order factor.Conclusions: Our findings are consistent with the view that burnout symptoms are part of a depressive syndrome and do not reflect a unique or distinct entity. Conducted in the Australian context, this study strengthens the generalizability of the finding that burnout problematically overlaps with depression. Given the profound problems affecting the burnout construct, we recommend a paradigm shift from burnout to occupational depression. Such a shift raises the prospects of more reliably and validly assessing severity and prevalence of job-related distress and, consequently, of reaching more psychologically meaningful and productive conclusions regarding treatment, prevention, and public health decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary, we discuss seldom-noticed methodological problems affecting biological research on burnout and depression and make recommendations to overcome the limitations of past studies conducted in this area. First, we suggest that identified subtypes of depression (e.g., depression with melancholic features and depression with atypical features) should be taken into account in future biological research on burnout and depression, given that different subtypes of depression have been associated with distinct autonomic and neuroendocrine profiles. Second, we underline that research on burnout-depression overlap is made difficult by the absence of a consensual conceptualization and operationalization of burnout. In order to resolve this problem, we draw researchers’ attention to the urgency of establishing a commonly shared, clinically valid diagnosis for burnout. Finally, we question the possibility of identifying a biological signature for burnout in light of global research on burnout-depression overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on a research which examines the interdisciplinary approach to mood disorders. It discusses the challenges on conceptual parsimony in the field of mood disorders, the concepts of burnout and depression, and the effectiveness of somatic medicine. The author also discusses the benefits of interdisciplinary approaches to mood disorders in understanding the mental health dynamics of real-life events in complex situation.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to a study of burnout in psychiatric residents.

Abstract Burnout has been defined as a job-related syndrome combining pervasive fatigue and loss of motivation. In recent years, evidence has mounted that burnout may reflect a depressive condition. In this study, we expanded on past investigations of burnout-depression overlap by focusing on interpretation biases toward ambiguous information among the two entities. We conducted a web-based study involving 1056 participants (83% female; mean age: 42.87). Burnout symptoms were assessed with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure and depressive symptoms with the PHQ-9. The Ambiguous Scenarios Test (AST), a measure of interpretation bias validated among dysphoric individuals, was the outcome of interest. The AST consists of 24 scenarios that respondents are requested to imagine and assess in terms of (un)pleasantness. Burnout and depression each correlated moderately and negatively with scenario pleasantness. Participants reporting “high” levels of burnout and depression exhibited a negativity bias when interpreting scenarios whereas participants with either “low” or “medium” levels of burnout and depression exhibited a positivity bias. Remarkably, burnout and depression were similarly associated with the pleasantness of job-related scenarios. Like depression, burnout may involve a propensity to interpret ambiguous information negatively. This study supports the view that burnout is associated with a depressive cognitive style. Highlights • Burnout involves a propensity to interpret ambiguous information negatively. • Burnout is associated with a depressive cognitive style. • The discriminant validity of burnout vis-à-vis depression is problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether burnout and depression differed in terms of public stigma and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors. Secondarily, we examined the overlap of burnout and depressive symptoms. A total of 1046 French schoolteachers responded to an Internet survey in November–December 2015. The survey included measures of public stigma, help-seeking attitudes and behaviors, burnout and depressive symptoms, self-rated health, neuroticism, extraversion, history of anxiety or depressive disorder, social desirability, and socio-demographic variables. The burnout label appeared to be less stigmatizing than the depression label. In either case, however, fewer than 1% of the participants exhibited stigma scores signaling agreement with the proposed stigmatizing statements. Help-seeking attitudes and behaviors did not differ between burnout and depression. Participants considered burnout and depression similarly worth-treating. A huge overlap was observed between the self-report, time-standardized measures of burnout and depressive symptoms (disattenuated correlation: .91). The overlap was further evidenced in a confirmatory factor analysis. Thus, while burnout and depression as syndromes are unlikely to be distinct, how burnout and depression are socially represented may differ. To our knowledge, this study is the first to compare burnout- and depression-related stigma and help-seeking in the French context. Cross-national, multi-occupational studies examining different facets of stigma are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]