Burned aggression: the relationship between burnout and aggressive behaviour among young adults in Czechia

Despite stress being a critical component of burnout, few studies have investigated the relationship between burnout and aggressive behaviour. Therefore, the current study aims to verify whether states of exhaustion are associated with aggression.

Structural equation models were constructed using data from a representative sample of 1027 young adults (M_age = 24.53), almost half of whom were men (n = 507). The models revealed the relationships between burnout, aggressive behaviour, emotion regulation strategies, risky alcohol consumption, stress, and adverse childhood experiences.

Although there were minor differences in the pathways between men and women, both models showed a good fit for the data. Furthermore, among both men and women, the positive relationship between burnout and aggressive behaviour was mediated by maladaptive coping strategies and risky alcohol consumption. Interestingly, reliance on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies was also associated with increased depressive symptoms among women but not among men.

The findings of this study reveal that aggressive behaviour is another negative consequence of burnout among young adults and highlight the importance of skills applied in responses to chronic stress. The implications of these findings and further results are discussed in relation to the existing literature.