title: Development of burnout in middle-aged working women: a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study had two aims: first, to identify developmental patterns of burnout in middle-aged women from the working population and, second, to evaluate whether work-related and individual factors are associated with concurrent changes in burnout.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study design was longitudinal and used a random, population-based sample of urban middle-aged women. One baseline and two follow-up assessments were carried out during a 9-year period. At baseline, 142 women participated. Complete data were available for 116 women, who constituted the sample of the present study. Burnout was assessed using the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ). In order to identify typical developmental patterns (trajectories) hierarchical cluster analysis was used. Within-group changes in burnout levels over time were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  When using a variable-based approach, the results showed no significant changes in burnout over time. However, underlying these levels, six trajectories were identified. These clusters represented four different developmental patterns: high levels followed by recovery, increasing levels, increasing and diminishing levels, and stable levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In contrast to previous research suggesting that burnout is a stable construct over time, the present study identified distinct subgroups of women showing different developmental patterns of burnout during a 9-year period. Furthermore, our findings showed that the development of burnout was accompanied by concurrent changes in life stress as well as work-related and individual factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. annika.evolahti@ki.se
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evolahti
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hultell
authors.forename: Aila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*