Factors related to burnout and its effects on mental and physical symptoms and daytime dysfunction among female flight attendants

ABSTRACT

In this study, risk factors were identified to assess the impact of burnout on the health and daytime function of 412 female flight attendants from an international airline from 2017 to 2018 with convenience sampling. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires. Analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and independent t-tests were used to assess the relationships between burnout and demographic and work-related factors. A structural equation model analysis was performed to assess the effect of burnout impact factors on mental health using the Brief Symptom Rating Scale, six common physical symptoms, and daytime dysfunction (a subscale of the Athens Insomnia Scale). The results showed a moderate level of burnout, as reported by 19.2 percent of the participants. Personal and work-related characteristics, including marital status and working hours, were not significantly associated with burnout. Smoking behavior was the only significant risk factor (T = −3.64). The impact model of burnout revealed a moderate direct effect of burnout on mental health symptoms (95 percent CI: 0.27, 0.47) and daytime dysfunction (95 percent CI: 0.04, 0.11) and a small direct effect on physical symptoms (95 percent CI: 0.28, 0.47). Our findings increase our understanding of the risk and impact factors related to burnout in female flight attendants.

KEYWORDS:

• Burnout
• female flight attendants
• mental health
• occupational health
• physical symptoms

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participating flight attendants and unit coordinators.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.