The causal relationships between job characteristics, burnout, and psychological health: a two-wave panel study

Researchers conducted a two-wave panel study to test the hypothesis of the normal and reversed causal relationships of job characteristics, burnout, and psychological health. The hypotheses are as follows: job characteristics lead to burnout and psychological health over time; and vice versa, burnout and psychological health were expected to result in perceived job stress over time. Nearly 513 participants were recruited, out of which 299 completed all valid questionnaires twice with a six-month time lag. The results demonstrate that job characteristics at Time 1 (i.e. job demands and job control) were determinants of psychological health at Time 2. Low professional efficacy at Time 1 was a determinant of the perception of job control at Time 2. These empirical findings suggest that normal and reversed causal relationships exist simultaneously between job characteristics and psychological health.