The study of professional burnout in knowledge workers, taking into account gender and age characteristics

Abstract

Introduction. Maladaptive mental states pose a threat both to the personal health of the employee and to the stability of the organization. Mental health workers often have states of depression, mental and chronic fatigue, occupational stress and emotional burnout. At the same time, burnout is one of the most dangerous conditions, especially at the beginning of its development — the employee, as a rule, is not aware of its symptoms. It is important to identify such manifestations in time and properly organize the employee support system. It is necessary to determine the factors contributing to the development of emotional burnout syndrome in various age and gender professional groups, taking into account individual psychological characteristics. The study aims to research burnout and its predictors in knowledge workers, taking into account their gender and age characteristics and the class of working conditions according to the intensity of the labor process. Materials and methods. The authors conducted an online study of maladaptive mental states and working conditions of knowledge workers in terms of the intensity of the labor process, including a set of hygienic and psychological methods. The study involved 468 employees aged 20-59 years: 133 men (42.1±9.7 years) and 335 women (39.3±8.7 years). The researchers conducted a hygienic assessment of labor stress factors according to the Manual R 2.2.2006-05. The authors used: "degree of chronic fatigue", questionnaire for evaluation of acute mental fatigue, labor stress questionnaire; Maslach burnout questionnaire with subsequent calculation of integral index of burnout according to Bekhterev Scientific Research Institute formula; Beck depression scale. The experts compared the studied indicators depending on gender, age group, class of working conditions according to the intensity of the labor process and calculated a linear regression model for the indicator "integral index of emotional burnout". Results. There are 13 professional groups of knowledge workers with different classes of working conditions depending on the intensity of the labor process, for which there are leading labor stressors. The authors revealed statistically significant differences in the studied indicators depending on gender, age group and class of working conditions in terms of the intensity of the labor process, they also identified significant predictors for the indicator "integral index of emotional burnout": age (β=–0.160, p=0.013), acute mental fatigue (β=0.432, p=0.000), depression (β=0.403, p=0.000), second (β=0.343, p=0.020) and third (β=0.432, p=0.000) in terms of stressors (adjusted R2=0.698). Conclusion. Ensuring the longevity of knowledge workers should be based on the preservation of their psycho-emotional health, which requires a special approach to the prevention of maladaptive mental states. When developing preventive measures, it is necessary to take into account, first of all, the age characteristics of the employee and the class of working conditions according to the intensity of the labor process, estimated according to the Manual P 2.2.2006-05, as well as the gender of the employee, the level of depression and mental fatigue, leading labor stressors. In order to prevent burnout, it is necessary to focus more on situational and organizational factors than on individual ones. Ethics. The authors have conducted the study in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health, Protocol No. 4 of 04/14/2021.