In 2020, the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), was developed to quantify the severity of work-attributed depressive symptoms and establish provisional diagnoses of job-ascribed depression. The ODI covers nine symptoms, including exhaustion (burnout’s putative core). The instrument exhibits particularly robust psychometric properties. The ODI is the only instrument that assesses work-related suicidal thoughts, a particularly important symptom calling for immediate attention. In 2021, the Sydney Burnout Measure (SBM) was released by Gordon Parker et al., which "captures domains of exhaustion, cognitive impairment, loss of empathy, withdrawal and insularity, and impaired work performance, as well as several anxiety, depression and irritability symptoms. "There are still other conceptualizations as well that are embodied in other instruments, including the Hamburg Burnout Inventory, and Malach-Piness Burnout Measure.Kristensen et al. and Malach-Pines (who also published as Pines) advanced the view that burnout can also occur in connection to life outside of work. For example, Malach-Pines developed a burnout measure keyed the role of spouse.The core of all of these conceptualizations, including that of Freudenberger, is exhaustion.Maslach advanced the idea that burnout should not be viewed as a depressive condition. Recent evidence, based on factor-analytic and meta-analytic findings, calls into question this supposition. Burnout is also now often seen as involving the full array of depressive symptoms (e.g., low mood, cognitive alterations, sleep disturbance).Marked differences among researchers conceptualizations of what constitutes burnout have underlined the need for a consensus definition.
People who experience good opportunities for control in their own work and those who feel that they are treated fairly develop less symptoms of depression and exhaustion disorder than others. Women and men with similar working conditions develop symptoms of depression as much as exhaustion disorder.Negative consequences of burnout on both the employee and the organization call for preventive measures in order to reduce the impact of the risk factors. Burnout prevention strategies, either addressing to the general working population (primary prevention) or the occupational groups which are more vulnerable (secondary prevention), are focused on reducing the impact of risk factors. Reviews of healthcare professionals‟ burnout focusing on identifying risk factors have been conducted previously. Effects
Some research indicates that burnout is associated with reduced job performance, coronary heart disease, and mental health problems. Examples of emotional symptoms of occupational burnout include a lack of interest in the work being done, a decrease in work performance levels, feelings of helplessness, and trouble sleeping. With regard to mental health problems, research on dentists and physicians suggests that what is meant by burnout is a depressive syndrome. Thus reduced job performance and cardiovascular risk could be related to burnout because of burnouts tie to depression. Behavioral signs of occupational burnout are demonstrated through cynicism within workplace relationships with coworkers, clients, and the organization itself. Other effects of burnout can manifest as lower energy and productivity levels, with workers observed to be consistently late for work and feeling a sense of dread upon arriving.