title: Work overload, burnout, and psychological ill-health symptoms: a three-wave mediation model of the employee health impairment process.
abstract: The study reported here investigated the causal relationships in the health impairment process of employee well-being, and the mediating role of burnout in the relationship between work overload and psychological ill-health symptoms, over time. The research is deemed important due to the need for longitudinal evidence of the health impairment process of employee well-being over three waves of data.
  
  
  
  A quantitative survey design was followed. Participants constituted a longitudinal sample of 370 participants, at three time points, after attrition.
  
  
  
  Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling methods were implemented.
  
  
  
  Work overload at time one predicted burnout at time two, and burnout at time two predicted psychological ill-health symptoms at time three. Indirect effects were found between work overload time one and psychological ill-health symptoms time three via burnout time two, and also between burnout time one and psychological ill-health symptoms time three, via burnout time two.
  
  
  
  The results provided supportive evidence for an "indirect-only" mediation effect, for burnout's causal mediation mechanism in the health impairment process between work overload and psychological ill-health symptoms.
authors.affiliation: a WorkWell Research Unit , North-West University , Private Bag X6001, Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom 2520 , South Africa.
authors.forename: Leon T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: de Beer
authors.affiliation: a WorkWell Research Unit , North-West University , Private Bag X6001, Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom 2520 , South Africa.
authors.forename: Jaco
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pienaar
authors.affiliation: a WorkWell Research Unit , North-West University , Private Bag X6001, Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom 2520 , South Africa.
authors.forename: Sebastiaan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rothmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Longitudinal mediation; burnout; health impairment process; indirect effect; job demands