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The Role of Resilience in Reducing Burnout: A Study with Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

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  • Pedro Ferreira

    (REMIT—Research on Economics, Management and Information Technologies, University Portucalense, R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 541, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal)

  • Sofia Gomes

    (REMIT—Research on Economics, Management and Information Technologies, University Portucalense, R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 541, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

Although burnout is a widely studied topic, there is still much to learn about this symptom during a pandemic crisis like the one caused by COVID-19. Moreover, and according to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, the relation between personal resources and burnout is still an understudied topic. The main goal of this research is to understand the influence of mental resilience on the three dimensions of burnout-emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement-among healthcare workers when exposed to a pandemic situation. A cross-sectional study was conducted based on the administration of an online survey to a sample of 196 healthcare workers (nurses and doctors) during the second wave of COVID-19 in Portugal. Hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares. The results show that during a pandemic situation, higher levels of resilience associated both with lower levels of emotional exhaustion (Emotional Exhaustion: −0.17; 95% Confidence Interval–CI: −0.38, 0.04) and depersonalization (Depersonalization: −0.17; 95% CI: −0.31, −0.03), and higher levels of personal achievement (Personal Achievement: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.61). Resilience should be considered an important asset for reducing levels of burnout when facing highly stressing situations. The main contribution of this research is related to the role of personal resources as an inhibitor of negative consequences of job strain, such as burnout. The findings add new knowledge to the topic of fighting (not just understanding) burnout in deeply stressful situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforcing the importance of developing personal resources. Resilience skills may be developed, thus reducing the risk of burnout.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro Ferreira & Sofia Gomes, 2021. "The Role of Resilience in Reducing Burnout: A Study with Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:9:p:317-:d:620326
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Margherita Zito & Federica Emanuel & Monica Molino & Claudio Giovanni Cortese & Chiara Ghislieri & Lara Colombo, 2018. "Turnover intentions in a call center: The role of emotional dissonance, job resources, and job satisfaction," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Patricia Angeli da Silva Pigati & Renato Fraga Righetti & Victor Zuniga Dourado & Bruna Tiemi Cunha Nisiaymamoto & Beatriz Mangueira Saraiva-Romanholo & Iolanda de Fátima Lopes Calvo Tibério, 2022. "Resilience Improves the Quality of Life and Subjective Happiness of Physiotherapists during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Rosana Stan & Cristina Ciobanu, 2022. "The Mediation Chain Effect of Cognitive Crafting and Personal Resources on the Relationship between Role Ambiguity and Dentists’ Emotional Exhaustion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Pedro Ferreira & Sofia Gomes, 2022. "Temporary Work, Permanent Strain? Personal Resources as Inhibitors of Temporary Agency Workers’ Burnout," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-13, July.

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