There is evidence that the original Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales may be improved by tailoring the factor structure and norms for individual professions within the original group. To determine the factor structures of the original 25-item inventory for a homogeneous population of 710 public school teachers from two states data were factor analyzed using principal factoring with iteration. The resulting factor structure was consistent with the original factor structure scaling; and norms specific for analyzing teachers' scores are reported.

Most of the reported research linking stress to illness is not based on data derived from occupational settings. Studies have associated high levels oj occupational stress, dubbed "burnout," as being linked to physiological and psychological illness and disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine whether workers experiencing high levels of occupational stress have patterns of somatic complaints and illnesses differing/rom their cohorts. The population consisted of all secondary school teachers in one large Alabama school district. O] these 801 teachers, 58% returned completed instruments. Based on the operational constructs oj the Maslach Burnout Inventory, 20% of the subjects were classified as burned out. The frequency and/or intensity of 26 somatic complaints and 3 illnesses were significantly greater for subjects who were classified as burned out. Twenty five somatic complaints could be utilized in a discriminant function model to correctly classify 89% of the subjects as either burned out or not. It appears that the present health concern by professions, employers, and third-party benefactors regarding occupational stress is justifiable.After an extensive review of the literature on stress and somatic complaints, Tracy (1965) concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that "stress causes, or is linked to disease." Among the disorders he reported to be related to stress were heart diseases, colitis, constipation and diarrhea, liver and gall bladder diseases, anemia, frequent head colds, loss of sight, asthma, arthritis, rheumatic diseases, bronchitis, digestive diseases, intestinal diseases, ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, diabetes, nervous and mental disorders, backaches, hemorrhoids, and cancer. Norfolk (1977) reported that stress has a significant impact on sleep patterns, psychosomatic ailments such as tension headaches, indigestion, and colitis. Albrecht (1979) noted that "the list of diseases, researchers suggest as being caused by stress or aggravated by stress reads, like a Who's Who in American Disease'."It is worth noting that most of the reported research linking stress to illness is not based on data derived from occupational settings (Schwartz, 1980). Although there is a growing body of literature suggesting a relationship between stress and various diseases, there is limited research on the pattern of somatic complaints among professionals under stress (Belcastro, 1982). Especially lacking are empirical studies that examine how stressed workers differ in their pattern of somatic complaints from nonstressed workers. In the last decade, a proliferation of publications have associated high levels of occupational stress, dubbed "burnout," with physiological and psychological illnesses and disorders. However, many of these reports were predicted on the general stress literature. The question remains whether workers experiencing high levels of occupational stress exhibit decreased health status. Operational DefinitionA unanimous consensus of the construct of burnout does not exist. H...

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