Factors associated with workers' burnout and "over-commitment to work": A survey among employees of 36 companies in Taipei city

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the distribution and correlates of workers' burnout and "over-commitment to work". Methods: Burnout status was measured using revised items from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), which includes 3 subscales (personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout). The scale measuring overcommitment to work was modified from Siegrist's Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire (ERI-Q). Also collected were socio-demographic characteristics (sex, age, marital status, and education) and work-related factors (employment grade, company size, working hours, work demands, job control, and job insecurity). A total of 2891 male and 2704 female employees from 36 worksites in Taipei city participated in this survey. Among them, 41% was in manufacturing, 7% was in construction, and the remaining 52% in service sectors. Results: After controlling for demographic and work-related variables in regression analyses, women had significantly higher levels of personal burnout (β-4.2) and work burnout (β=2.9) but significantly lower levels of client burnout (β=-3.2) and comparable levels of over-commitment to work (β=0.1) compared to men. Among both sexes, younger employees had significantly higher levels of burnout in all three subscales; however, the middle-aged group (aged 35∼45) reported the highest levels of over-commitment as compared to other age groups. Longer working hours (a: 54 hours per week), higher psychological work demands, lower job control, and job insecurity were found to be positively associated with scores on all four subscales. Conclusions: This study identified groups at high risk for burnout and over-commitment to work and provided directions for health promotion strategies in the workplace.