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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.
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