A five‐sample confirmatory factor analytic study of burnout‐depression overlap

OBJECTIVE: It has been asserted that burnout-a condition ascribed to unresolvable job stress-should not be mistaken for a depressive syndrome. In this confirmatory factor analytic study, the validity of this assertion was examined. METHODS: Five samples of employed individuals, recruited in Switzerland and France, were mobilized for this study (N = 3,113). Burnout symptoms were assessed with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)-General Survey, and the MBI for Educators. Depressive symptoms were measured with the PHQ-9. RESULTS: In all five samples, the latent factors pertaining to burnout's components correlated on average more highly with the latent Depression factor than with each other, even with fatigue-related items removed from the PHQ-9. Second-order factor analyses indicated that the latent Depression factor and the latent factors pertaining to burnout's components were reflective of the same overarching factor. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the burnout-depression distinction is artificial.