title: Alexithymia and occupational burnout are strongly associated in working population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The relationship between alexithymia and occupational burnout has not previously been studied. We investigated the association between alexithymia and occupational burnout in a representative nationwide population health study.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a part of the Finnish Health 2000 Study. The nationally representative sample comprised 3322 employees aged 30-64 years. Alexithymia was measured with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and occupational burnout with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Sociodemographic and health-related variables including depression were treated as confounders in the logistic regression analyses, which were performed alternately with TAS-20 total score and the scores of the three TAS-20 factor scales as alexithymia variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alexithymia and its three facets were significantly associated with occupational burnout even when controlled for confounding factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even though both alexithymia and depression are associated with burnout, alexithymia may be an independent risk factor for occupational burnout.
authors.affiliation: Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. aino.mattila@uta.fi
authors.forename: Aino K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Kirsi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahola
authors.forename: Teija
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Honkonen
authors.forename: Jouko K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Salminen
authors.forename: Heini
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huhtala
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joukamaa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003710:Demography; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires