The association between alexithymia, emotional intelligence and burnout among nursing assistants working in nursing home settings: A cross-sectional study

Alexithymia, social support, depression, and burnout among emergency nurses in China: a structural equation model analysis

Background

Several factors are associated with the incidence of burnout, including alexithymia, social support, and depression. The relative importance of these three key parameters as mediators of burnout, however, is not well understood. In addition, there have been few studies to date specifically examining the association between alexithymia and burnout among nurses in China.

Purpose

To evaluate the relationship of burnout with alexithymia, social support, and depression across emergency department nurses in China.

Methods

This descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted using a convenience sampling methodology to survey nurses responsible for direct emergency care (n = 413) from 18 tertiary hospitals in Western, Eastern, Northern, and Southern China between May 2020 and June 2020. A structural equation modeling approach was then used to assess a hypothetical model wherein alexithymia both directly and indirectly affects burnout among emergency nurses via impacting the incidence of depression and perceived social support.

Results

Results supported all driving hypotheses. Alexithymia was positive direct correlated with burnout (β = 0.35; P < 0.001) and depression (β = 0.50; P < 0.001), and exhibited a negative direct effect on social support (β = − 0.14; P = 0.041). Depression was associated with burnout, both directly (β = 0.24; P < 0.001) and indirectly (β = 0.15; P < 0.001) through its relationship with social support. Alexithymia was the factor most strongly associated with burnout, and it was able to affect burnout indirectly through depression and social support.

Conclusions

We found that among emergency nurses in China, alexithymia was correlated with burnout, depression, and social support. Alexithymia was the factor most strongly associated with burnout. These data suggest that providing better social support and alleviating alexithymia may decrease rates of burnout among emergency nurses.

The influence of personality, alexithymia and work engagement on burnout among village doctors in China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

In China, as the "gatekeepers"of rural residents' health, the primary-level village doctors, play a very crucial role in ensuring and serving the health level of rural residents. However, the burnout of village doctors is gravely threatening the stability of rural primary medical system step by step. This study systematically evaluated the effects of personality, work engagement and alexithymia on burnout of village doctors, and further measured and assessed the mediating effect of alexithymia and work engagement in the association between personality and burnout.

METHODS

The subjects were 2684 village doctors in Jining, Shandong Province, China, from May to June 2019. Sociodemographic characteristics, alexithymia, personality, work engagement and job burnout were quantitated by self-completed questionnaire and measured by Likert 5-7 scale. One-way ANOVA, Person correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used for statistical analysis and mediating effect evaluation.

RESULTS

2693 questionnaires were collected in total, of which 2684 were valid, with an effective rate of 96.2%. 65.2% of village doctors were diagnosed with burnout, and 54.3% showed moderate to severe emotional exhaustion, 61.6% showed moderate to severe low sense of personal achievement, and 33.9% showed moderate to severe depersonalization burnout. Personality had a direct positive effect on work engagement (β = 0.50, p < 0.001), a direct negative effect on alexithymia (β = - 0.52, p < 0.001) and burnout (β = - 0.50, p < 0.001) respectively. Work engagement had a direct negative effect on burnout (β = - 0.10, p < 0.001), while alexithymia had a direct positive effect on burnout (β = 0.16, p < 0.001). In the path between personality and burnout, both work engagement 95%CI:(- 0.17)-(- 0.08), and alexithymia 95%CI:(- 0.36)-(- 0.09), have significant mediating effects. These results strongly confirm that personality, alexithymia, and work engagement are early and powerful predicators of burnout.

CONCLUSION

According to the results, medical administrators should pay attention to the personality characteristics of village doctors in vocational training, practice selection and job assignment, encourage village doctors to reflect on their own personality actively, and to reduce job burnout by obtaining necessary social support, constructing reasonable achievable career expectations, improving time management ability, and participating in psychological counselling programs.

Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Sleep Quality and Body Mass Index in Emergency Nurses

Nurses have long working hours with high psychological burdens. In addition, in the emergency department, nurses are required to quickly adapt emotionally. The aim of this study was to describe and relate emotional intelligence (EI) skills of emergency nurses, their body mass index (BMI) and sleep quality. For this purpose, a cross-sectional was carried out in which the perceived emotional intelligence test and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index were applied. Sixty-two emergency nurses (48 women and 14 men) participated. The results indicated that the majority of them present adequate levels of EI, with no differences by gender. Younger nurses showed a better ability to feel, express and understand emotional states than the older ones, while the ability to regulate emotional states occurred in the opposite way. Nurses who have been working for several years showed a better ability to regulate emotions than those with less experience. Those who were overweight grade II and obese type I expressed their feelings better, also the regulation of emotional states decreased as weight increased. Finally, it has been observed that the quality of sleep of emergency nurses is significantly altered, and that this lack of sleep may affect their ability to process emotions.

Mobile Phone Addiction Mediates the Relationship Between Alexithymia and Learning Burnout in Chinese Medical Students: A Structural Equation Model Analysis

Background

Learning burnout is a passive mental state among students. It is a common phenomenon that can cause many bad outcomes in Chinese medical students, such as mental disorders and suicide, and its causes are complex.

Purpose

To analyze the relationship between alexithymia and learning burnout, as well as the mediating effect of mobile phone addiction, and provide clues for future interventions to deal with learning burnout among Chinese medical students.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, convenience cluster sampling was used to produce a sample of 1200 medical universities in Chongqing, China. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale (MPATS), and Learning Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) were used to examine participants. Hierarchical regression was used to analyze the effect of alexithymia and mobile phone addiction on learning burnout. A structural equation model (SEM) with maximum likelihood was used to evaluate the mediating effect of mobile phone addiction on the relationship between alexithymia and learning burnout. The bootstrap method was used to confirm the significance of this mediating effect.

Results

The final sample size was 1062, with a valid response rate of 88.5%. The prevalence of learning burnout among Chinese medical students was 39.6%. Results of hierarchical regression revealed that alexithymia (ΔR²=0.198, P<0.01) and mobile phone addiction (ΔR²=0.021, P<0.01) were independent factors of learning burnout; the SEM revealed that the mediating effect of mobile phone addiction between alexithymia and learning burnout accounted for 25.16% of the total effect of alexithymia on learning burnout; the bootstrap method revealed that the bounds of the CI did not contain 0, confirming the significance of this mediating effect.

Conclusion

Of the medical students, 39.6% had learning burnout. Alexithymia can positively predict learning burnout, and this relationship is partially mediated by mobile phone addiction.