Does workers' experience of knowledge on emotional demands protect against burnout?

Burnout is prevalent in human service work, such as healthcare, social work, and education. Within these professions, workers are often required to regulate and express their emotions according to their professional role and the organizational context, which can lead to high emotional demands and consequently burnout. Inspired by prevention strategies in professions with physical hazards, where instruction and information on risk factors are essential for safety procedures, this study aims to assess if workers' experience of their own knowledge on the strain and possible reactions to emotional demands, moderates the association between emotional demands at work and symptoms of burnout.

The study utilized a longitudinal survey design, collecting data at baseline and six months follow-up. The sample consisted of workers from various professions with high emotional demands (n = 1336) and Generalized linear mixed models were used to analyze the data.

The findings show that higher levels of emotional demands are positively associated with burnout symptoms across the six months (b = 0.2, t = 6.0, p < .001). Additionally, workers' experience of knowledge on emotional demands acted as a moderator on this association (b = 0.02, t = 2.5, p = .014). Stratified analysis showed that workers with higher level of knowledge exhibited lower levels of burnout at both baseline (T1) and six months follow-up (T2) Contrast estimates at T1 = High vs. Low, contrast estimate = -1.9, t=-5.5, p < .001; High vs. Medium, contrast estimate = -0.8, t = -2.7, p = .007; Medium vs. Low, contrast estimate = -1.1, t = -4.2, p < .001. Contrast estimates at T2 = High vs. Low, contrast estimate = -2.0, t = 5.2, p < .001; High vs. Medium, contrast estimate = -0.7, t=-2.0, p = .045; Medium vs. Low, contrast estimates= -1.3, t = -4.3, p < .001. These findings were consistent across various levels of emotional demands.

The findings suggest that enhancing workers' experience of knowledge of emotional demands might be a simple preventive measure that can supplement existing workplace initiatives on burnout prevention.