title: Is there an independent association between burnout and increased allostatic load? Testing the contribution of psychological distress and depression.
abstract: Burnout has been suggested to be related to depression. We examined the relationship between burnout and allostatic load, and whether this association is independent of psychological distress and depression. We measured burnout psychological distress, depression, and allostatic load in 3283 participants. Higher burnout (β = 0.06, p =0.003) and cynicism (β = 0.03, p = 0.031) and decreased professional efficacy (β = 0.03, p = 0.007) were related to higher allostatic load independent of age, sex, education, occupation and psychological distress. Depression, however, explained 60 percent of the association. Burnout is related to higher allostatic load, and this association partly overlaps with co-occurring depression.
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Finland taina.hintsa@helsinki.fi.
authors.forename: Taina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hintsa
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elovainio
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jokela
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland.
authors.forename: Kirsi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahola
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland Lapland Hospital District, Finland University of Oulu, Finland Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pirkola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D052636:Allostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000209:etiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: allostatic load; burnout; depression; psychological distress