Comparing the Burnout Assessment Tool and the Sydney Burnout Measure with one another and depression

Burnout has conventionally been defined in terms of the Maslach Burnout Inventory's three-factor model comprising exhaustion, cynicism/depersonalisation and reduced efficacy. Recent research, however, has generated measures which examine a wider array of symptoms and which generate a total score to quantify overall burnout severity. In this study we compare two such instruments, the Burnout Assessment Tool and the Sydney Burnout Measure and examine their discriminant validity with depression as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. We recruited 903 self-diagnosed burnout sufferers and analysed their responses to each measure using zero-order correlations and bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling. Strong concordance between the overall burnout construct assessed by each measure and its distinctiveness from depression was demonstrated. Results suggest that burnout is primarily defined by exhaustion, cognitive impairment, mental distancing, social withdrawal and impaired work performance, although symptoms of depressed mood, sleep disturbances, empathy loss and emotional impairment also commonly co-occur.