The relationships between work intensity, workaholism, burnout, and self‐reported musculoskeletal complaints

Abstract

Technological advances within the work environment have dynamically changed the tools with which work is done and the methods applied for performing it, with a large amount of modern work being fast-paced and sedentary in nature, that is, being done seated in front of a computer screen. This study investigated the relationship between work intensity, workaholism, burnout, and musculoskeletal complaints (MSCs). The results of this study could assist organizations in gaining a clearer understanding of how each of these constructs influences the other, promoting a healthier, and ultimately more productive workforce. A cross-sectional research design was adopted and implemented by means of a survey amongst office employees within a large engineering services organization (n = 398). Structural equation modeling methods were applied to analyze the data. The results revealed that work intensity was positively related to workaholism and that workaholism was, in turn, also positively related to employees' burnout and MSCs. Finally, burnout was also shown to be significantly related to MSCs. Awareness of these phenomena and the promotion of effort recovery is important to obviate the effects on employee health and well-being in the long term.

Development of Burnout Syndrome in Non-university Teachers: Influence of Demand and Resource Variables

“…The following demands stand out for their importance: interpersonal conflicts (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2007 ), workload (Alarcon, 2011 ), imbalance (Taris et al, 2001 ; Backhaus et al, 2018 ), role conflict, and role ambiguity (Alarcon, 2011 ). These demand variables are positively correlated with burnout (Backhaus et al, 2018 ; Engelbrecht et al, 2019 ; McCarty et al, 2019 ; Xu, 2019 ; Klein et al, 2020 ). Moreover, in recent years another demand has emerged amongst the others, emotional labor (Pisaniello et al, 2012 ; Yilmaz et al, 2015 ).…”

Is Social Support Moderates Between Workload and Emotional Exhaustion?

“…The researcher defined workload as research productivity, professional development and time. The previous studies like Miller, Ellis, Zook and Lyles (1990), Demerouti et al, (2001b), Blau, (2003, Engelbrecht, Beer, and Schaufeli, (2020) proved in their studies that as the level of workload increases, level of burnout risen, while study like Elloy, Terpening and Kohls (2001) determined that workload have inverse relationship emotional exhaustion (Mullins, 2005;Teven, 2007). An unpleasant working environment also puts stress on teachers and adversely affects quality and quantity.…”

“…Resources negatively correlated with job demands. These resources have a negative relationship with exhaustion and burnout does not act as moderator between demands and exhaustion (Engelbrecht et al, 2020;Khan et al, 2019;Khan et al, 2017;Taris, Ybema & Beek, 2017). If funds are sufficiently provided to employees in working environment, they will be more capable of dealing with demands and will have low emotional exhaustion levels (Bakker et al, 2005;Khan, et al, 2019).…”

Assessing Current HMI Designs and Exploring AI Potential for Future Air-Defence System Development

“…Physical Ergonomics was assessed using the Dutch Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (DMQ; [18]), the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and the Body Part Discomfort Questionnaire (BPDQ [19]). There is supporting research that work intensity correlates with musculoskeletal complaint (MSC) development [20] [21] which results in lost-work-time [22]. Resultantly, MSCs can adversely affect the operational capabilities of defence forces.…”