Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Is There a Bidirectional Link Between Insomnia and Burnout? A Prospective Study in the Swedish Workforce

  • Published:
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Insomnia and burnout have been suggested to form a bidirectional association.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a bidirectional relationship between insomnia and burnout over the course of a year among individuals in the workforce.

Method

This study employed a prospective design, where a randomly selected sample from the general population (20–60 year; N = 1,812) filled out a survey on insomnia and burnout. In employed participants (n = 1,258), the associations between insomnia and three dimensions of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey) were examined while controlling for age, gender, anxiety, and depression.

Results

The bivariate correlations between insomnia and the three burnout dimensions were significant at a low level (η 0.12–0.29). The longitudinal analyses demonstrated that insomnia was not associated with the incidence of burnout and vice versa. However, insomnia was demonstrated to increase the risk for the persistence of emotional exhaustion (OR = 3.02). Further, insomnia was not associated with the persistence of professional efficacy and cynicism, and burnout was not related to the persistence of insomnia.

Conclusion

In summary, this investigation demonstrated that insomnia and burnout are not bidirectionally related in the working population. While insomnia was linked to the maintenance of the central part of burnout, burnout was not related to future insomnia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Weber A, Jaekel-Reinhard A. Burnout syndrome: a disease of modern societies? Occup Med. 2000;50:512–7.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Maslach C, Leiter MP. The truth about burnout: how organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Melamed S, Kushnir T, Shirom A. Burnout and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Behav Med. 1992;18:53–60.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Shirom A. Burnout in work organizations. In: Cooper CL, Robertson I, editors. International review of industrial and organizational psychology. New York: Wiley; 1989. p. 25–48.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Schaufeli WB, Enzmann D. The burnout companion to study and practice: a critical analysis. London: Taylor & Francis; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Söderström M, Ekstedt M, Åkerstedt T, Nilsson J, Axelsson J. Sleep and sleepiness in young individuals with high burnout scores. Sleep. 2004;27:1369–77.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Ekstedt M, Söderstrom M, Åkerstedt T, Nilsson T, Sondergaard HP, Aleksander P. Disturbed sleep and fatigue in occupational burnout. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006;32:121–31.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Grossi G, Perski A, Evengård B, Blomkvist V, Orth-Gomér K. Physiological correlates of burnout among women. J Psychosom Res. 2003;55:309–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Melamed S, Ugarten U, Shirom A, Kahana L, Lerman Y, Froom P. Chronic burnout, somatic arousal and elevated salivary cortisol levels. J Psychosom Res. 1999;46:591–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bell RB, Davison M, Sefcik D. A first survey: measuring burnout in emergency medicine physician assistants. J Am Acad Physician Assist. 2002;15:40–55.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Peterson U, Demerouti E, Bergström G, Samuelsson M, Ake MA, Nygren Å. Burnout and physical and mental health among Swedish healthcare workers. J Adv Nurs. 2008;62:84–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Vela-Bueno A, Moreno-Jimenez B, Rodriguez-Munoz A, Olavarrieta-Bernardino S, Fernandez-Mendoza J, De la Cruz-Troca JJ, et al. Insomnia and sleep quality among primary care physicians with low and high burnout levels. J Psychosom Res. 2008;64:435–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Armon G, Shirom A, Shapira I, Melamed S. On the nature of burnout–insomnia relationships: a prospective study of employed adults. J Psychosom Res. 2008;65:5–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Lindblom K, Linton SJ, Fedeli C, Bryngelsson IL. Burnout in the working population: relations to psychosocial work factors. Int J Behav Med. 2006;13:51–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Partinen M, Gislason T. Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire (BNSQ): a quantitated measure of health and dysfunction. J Sleep Res. 1995;4:150–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Broman JE, Lundh LG, Hetta J. Insufficient sleep in the general population. Neurophysiol Clin. 1996;26:30–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Liljenberg B, Almqvist M, Hetta J, Roos BE, Ågren H. The prevalence of insomnia: the importance of operationally defined criteria. Ann Clin Res. 1988;20:393–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Linton SJ, Bryngelsson IL. Insomnia and its relationship to work and health in a working-age population. J Occup Rehabil. 2000;10:169–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. Washington: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  20. American Sleep Disorders Association. International classification of sleep disorders, revised: diagnostic and coding manuals. Rochester: American Sleep Disorders Association; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Maslach C, Jackson SE, Leiter MP. Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual. 3rd ed. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Leiter MP, Maslach C. Preventing burnout and building engagement: a complete program for organizational renewal. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Leiter MP, Schaufeli WB. Consistency of the burnout construct across occupations. Anxiety Stress Coping. 1996;9:229–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Taris TW, Schreurs PJG, Schaufeli WB. Construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory—General Survey: a two-sample examination of its factor structure and correlates. Work Stress. 1999;13:223–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Roelofs J, Verbraak M, Keijsers GPJ, de Bruin MBN, Schmidt AJM. Psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-DV) in individuals with and without clinical burnout. Stress Health. 2005;21:17–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Herrmann C. International experiences with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale—a review of validation data and clinical results. J Psychosom Res. 1997;42:17–41.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Zigmond AS, Snaith RP. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1983;67:361–70.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our appreciation to the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Örebro University Hospital for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health and Medical Psychology (CHAMP), School of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden

    Markus Jansson-Fröjmark & Karin Lindblom

Authors
  1. Markus Jansson-Fröjmark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karin Lindblom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Markus Jansson-Fröjmark.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jansson-Fröjmark, M., Lindblom, K. Is There a Bidirectional Link Between Insomnia and Burnout? A Prospective Study in the Swedish Workforce. Int.J. Behav. Med. 17, 306–313 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-010-9107-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-010-9107-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation