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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1414871
This article is part of the Research Topic Innovative Prevention Strategies for Occupational Health Hazards View all 13 articles

The Relation Between Humor Styles and Nurse Burnout: a Cross-Sectional Study in China

Provisionally accepted
Cuiyun Fang Cuiyun Fang 1Shuanghua Fan Shuanghua Fan 1Di Chen Di Chen 1Yuan Zhou Yuan Zhou 1Wei Fan Wei Fan 2*
  • 1 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China
  • 2 Department of Pediatrics, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Nurse burnout is a prevalent issue in healthcare, impacting both nurses' well-being and patient care quality. This cross-sectional study examined the association between humor styles and nurse burnout. Methods: A total of 244 nurses in China completed an online self-report measure to assess their humor styles and burnout levels using the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory -Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). Spearman correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis were conducted.The results showed that affiliative and self-enhancing humor were moderately used, while aggressive and self-defeating humor were rated low among the nurses. Emotional exhaustion was moderate, depersonalization was severe, and personal accomplishment was low. Correlation analyses uncovered significant relationships between humor styles and burnout dimensions. Self-enhancing humor exhibited negative correlations with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, while aggressive and self-defeating humor styles displayed positive correlations with these burnout factors. Affiliative humor was also negatively correlated with depersonalization. Additionally, self-enhancing humor was positively correlated with personal accomplishment, whereas aggressive humor showed negative correlations with this dimension of burnout. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that selfdefeating humor positively predicted emotional exhaustion while self-enhancing humor negatively predicted it. Aggressive humor positively predicted depersonalization, and affiliative and selfenhancing humor also positively predicted this dimension of burnout. Self-enhancing humor positively predicted personal accomplishment, while aggressive and self-defeating humor negatively predicted this dimension.The findings highlighted the importance of considering different types of humor in understanding the various dimensions of nurse burnout. The use of self-defeating and aggressive humor appears detrimental, while the use of self-enhancing humor may be beneficial in mitigating burnout among nurses.

    Keywords: Humor styles, Nurse, burnout, Emotional exhaustion, Cross-sectional study

    Received: 09 Apr 2024; Accepted: 14 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Fang, Fan, Chen, Zhou and Fan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wei Fan, Department of Pediatrics, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.