title: Is burnout solely job-related? A critical comment.
abstract: Within the field-dominating, multidimensional theory of burnout, burnout is viewed as a work-specific condition. As a consequence, the burnout syndrome cannot be investigated outside of the occupational domain. In the present paper, this restrictive view of burnout's scope is criticized and a rationale to decide between a work-specific and a generic approach to burnout is presented. First, the idea that a multidimensional conception of burnout implies a work-restricted scope is deconstructed. Second, it is shown that the burnout phenomenon cannot be confined to work because chronic, unresolvable stress - the putative cause of burnout - is not limited to work. In support of an integrative view of health, it is concluded that the field-dominating, multidimensional theory of burnout should abandon as groundless the idea that burnout is a specifically job-related phenomenon and define burnout as a multi-domain syndrome. The shift from a work-specific to a generic approach would allow both finer analysis and wider synthesis in research on chronic stress and burnout.
authors.affiliation: University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
authors.forename: Renzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Truchot
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brisson
authors.forename: Irvin Sam
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Schonfeld
mesh_terms: D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Burnout; Maslach Burnout Inventory; chronic stress; generic approach; occupational stress; scope