Development of Burnout in Middle-Aged Working Women: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract Objective: The present study had two aims: first, to identify developmental patterns of burnout in middle-aged women from the working population and, second, to evaluate whether work-related and individual factors are associated with concurrent changes in burnout. Methods: The study design was longitudinal and used a random, population-based sample of urban middle-aged women. One baseline and two follow-up assessments were carried out during a 9-year period. At baseline, 142 women participated. Complete data were available for 116 women, who constituted the sample of the present study. Burnout was assessed using the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ). In order to identify typical developmental patterns (trajectories) hierarchical cluster analysis was used. Within-group changes in burnout levels over time were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: When using a variable-based approach, the results showed no significant changes in burnout over time. However...