Evolution of burnout syndrome in Spanish healthcare professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: psychosocial variables involved

The results found have important practical implications for the prevention of each of the implicated components of the syndrome. Although further research is needed, emotional exhaustion is shown to be one of the dimensions affected in the short term and intervention programs aimed at reducing anxiety and depression at times of acute stress (onset of the COVID-19 pandemic), including thought management, seem fundamental. Depersonalization and decreased self-fulfillment do not seem to respond to the same pattern. They are shown as results of a chronification of a poor management of emotional exhaustion, and in the case of their appearance, given the variables associated with their evolution (i.e., optimism and hopelessness), therapies more focused on the meaning of existence, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, could be useful.