Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)

Abstract

This chapter presents a fresh view on burnout and its measurement based on a redefinition of burnout. Although not all scholars agree on the definition, the vast majority of scientific publications use a tripartite description of burnout that includes exhaustion, mental distance, and reduced professional efficacy. However, there are conceptual problems with this definition as well as psychometric and practical issues with the instrument that is based on this conceptualization and is considered the gold standard to measure burnout: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Therefore, burnout was redefined as a syndrome that includes four symptoms: exhaustion, mental distance, and cognitive and emotional impairment. In this view, a lack of energy impedes the functional capacity to adequately regulate one’s cognitive and emotional processes, whereas mental distancing serves as an ineffective coping strategy to reduce exhaustion by withdrawing from work. Building on this reconceptualization, a novel burnout questionnaire was developed, the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT). In this chapter, evidence is presented on the reliability and validity of the BAT, of which also a short version exists. More specifically, it appears, on the one hand, that the four-factor structure of the BAT is invariant across countries, gender, age, and ethnicity, whereas, on the other hand, also a composite total burnout score can be used to assess the level of burnout. Moreover, the reliability, convergent and divergent of the BAT is demonstrated, and burnout, as assessed with the BAT, fits into the nomological network of the Job-Demands Resources Model. That is, as expected, BAT-burnout is positively associated with job demands and negatively with job resources. Furthermore, relationships are found with several outcomes as well as personal resources, including personality traits. In practical terms, the BAT can be used to assess severe burnout in individuals in occupational health settings, as well as to estimate the prevalence of those who are at risk for burnout in organizations.

Appendix

Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)

Instruction

The following statements are related to your work situation and how you experience this situation. Please state how often each statement applies to you.

Scoring

Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often	Always
1	2	3	4	5

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often	Always
Exhaustion
1. At work, I feel mentally exhausted*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
2. Everything I do at work requires a great deal of effort	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
3. After a day at work, I find it hard to recover my energy*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
4. At work, I feel physically exhausted*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
5. When I get up in the morning, I lack the energy to start a new day at work	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
6. I want to be active at work, but somehow I am unable to manage	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
7. When I exert myself at work, I quickly get tired	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
8. At the end of my working day, I feel mentally exhausted and drained	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Mental distance
9. I struggle to find any enthusiasm for my work*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
10. At work, I do not think much about what I am doing, and I function on autopilot	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
11. I feel a strong aversion towards my job*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
12. I feel indifferent about my job	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
13. I’m cynical about what my work means to others*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Cognitive impairment
14. At work, I have trouble staying focused*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
15. At work I struggle to think clearly	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
16. I’m forgetful and distracted at work	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
17. When I’m working, I have trouble concentrating*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
18. I make mistakes in my work because I have my mind on other things*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Emotional impairment
19. At work, I feel unable to control my emotions*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
20. I do not recognize myself in the way I react emotionally at work*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
21. During my work I become irritable when things don’t go my way	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
22. I get upset or sad at work without knowing why	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
23. At work I may overreact unintentionally*	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐

1. Note: * = Short version
2. © Wilmar Schaufeli, Hans De Witte, and Steffie Desart 2019