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. 2020 Sep;17(9):951-959.
doi: 10.30773/pi.2020.0147. Epub 2020 Sep 17.

Burnout as a Mediator in the Relationship between Work-Life Balance and Empathy in Healthcare Professionals

Hwo-Yeon Seo  1 , Dong-Wook Lee  2 , Soohyun Nam  3 , Sung-Jun Cho  4 , Je-Yeon Yoon  5 , Yun-Chul Hong  2 , Nami Lee  3   6
Affiliations

Burnout as a Mediator in the Relationship between Work-Life Balance and Empathy in Healthcare Professionals

Hwo-Yeon Seo et al. Psychiatry Investig. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to 1) explore the relationships among work-life balance (WLB), burnout, and empathy and 2) investigate the roles of the subtypes of burnout relating to WLB and empathy.

Methods: A total of 105 health care professionals from a general hospital in Seoul were assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, and a one-sentence-question on subjective WLB. Multiple questions on psychiatric problems, including sleep problems, anxiety, depressive symptom, and alcohol problems, were also included.

Results: In the mediation analyses, personal achievement was considered as a potential mediating variable between WLB and empathy. The direct effect (β=3.93, 95% CI: 1.21-6.64) and the indirect effect (β=1.95, 95% CI: 0.52-3.76) of WLB on empathy were also significant.

Conclusion: Interventions encouraging personal achievement may help mitigate burnout of health professionals.

Keywords: Burnout; Empathy; Healthcare professionals; Work-life balance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Results of mediation analyses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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