AUTHOR=Yang Guangmei , Wei Huiyan , Wan Leping , Dong Haiying , Liang Xiaoxiao , He Yan TITLE=Curvilinear relationship between burnout and work engagement among staff in community services for the elderly: A correlation study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.939649 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.939649 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=Objective

To investigate whether there is a curvilinear relationship between burnout and work engagement among staff in Chinese community services for the elderly.

Methods

A stratified whole-group random sampling method was used to survey 244 staff members from eight communities in two cities. Data were collected using the Maslach Burnout Inventory scale (MBI) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale- 9 (UWES- 9). The curve estimation method explored the functional model of burnout and work engagement scales.

Results

Two hundred forty-four staff members completed the survey. Burnout, depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) were found to be related to work engagement in a cubic function (R2 = 0.166, P < 0.05), (R2 = 0.061, P < 0.05), and (R2 = 0.2230, P < 0.05), respectively. There was no statistically significant relationship between emotional exhaustion (EE) and work engagement (P > 0.05). “Personal Accomplishment” is related to work engagement in a U-shaped curve.

Conclusions

There was a cubic function relationship between burnout and work engagement, where “personal accomplishment” was related to work engagement in a U-shaped curve. Therefore, the government and related service organizations should understand the impact of different levels of burnout on work engagement and take targeted measures to alleviate burnout and improve work engagement by targeting emotions and stroke.