The personal and the public in residents’ burnout: a cross-sectional investigation

Abstract

Background: Medical residents are especially prone to burnout. Burnout has historically been viewed as a work-related condition. Burnout also occurs in life domains other than work, such as relationships and parenthood. The present investigation takes a holistic view of resident burnout, considering both public (i.e., work-related) and personal (i.e., couple, parental) burnout. The present investigation examines the interplay between resident burnout in different life domains, their antecedent (i.e., work-family conflict), and outcomes (i.e., job, couple, and parental satisfaction; turnover and breakup intentions). Methods: A pre-registered, cross-sectional study using questionnaires was conducted with 200 residents (M = 34.27 years, SD = 4.18; 63% female) in relationships and with children. We assessed work-related, couple, and parental burnout. The burnout antecedent was work-family conflict. The burnout outcomes included job, couple, and parental satisfaction, as well as turnover and breakup intentions. Results: As hypothesized, greater work-related burnout was associated with greater personal burnout. Work-family conflict was associated with higher levels of burnout, both work-related and personal. Higher work-related burnout was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intentions, showing domain-specificity. Higher couple burnout was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and higher breakup intentions, showing domain-specificity. Greater parental burnout was associated with lower parental satisfaction, as expected. However, this association was not domain-specific, contrary to the prediction: parental satisfaction was associated with all forms of burnout to the same extent (i.e., parental, couple, work-related). Conclusions: The findings shed light on the less-spoken, personal aspect of resident burnout. Burnout was domain-specific in some life domains (i.e., work, romantic relationship) but also spilled over from one life domain into another (i.e., parenthood). These findings underscore the importance of adopting a holistic bio-psycho-social perspective on residents’ well-being. Resident well-being is not only an individual matter but also a strategic priority for building a resilient, high-performing, and sustainable health workforce.