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. 2020 Aug 3;17(15):5604.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155604.

Measurement Invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) Across Seven Cross-National Representative Samples

Leon T de Beer  1 , Wilmar B Schaufeli  2   3 , Hans De Witte  2   4 , Jari J Hakanen  5 , Akihito Shimazu  6 , Jürgen Glaser  7 , Christian Seubert  7 , Janine Bosak  8 , Jorge Sinval  9   10   11 , Maksim Rudnev  12
Affiliations

Measurement Invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) Across Seven Cross-National Representative Samples

Leon T de Beer et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the measurement invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) across seven cross-national representative samples. In this study, burnout was modeled as a second-order factor in line with the conceptual definition as a syndrome. The combined sample consisted of 10,138 participants from countries in Europe and Japan. The data were treated as ordered categorical in nature and a series of models were tested to find evidence for invariance. Specifically, theta parameterization was used in conjunction with the weighted least squares (mean- and variance adjusted) estimation method. The results showed supportive evidence that BAT-assessed burnout was invariant across the samples, so that cross-country comparison would be justifiable. Comparison of effect sizes of the latent means between countries showed that Japan had a significantly higher score on overall burnout and all the first-order factors compared to the European countries. The European countries all scored similarly on overall burnout with no significant difference but for some minor differences in first-order factors between some of the European countries. All in all, the analyses of the data provided evidence that the BAT is invariant across the countries for meaningful comparisons of burnout scores.

Keywords: burnout; measurement invariance; structural equation modeling; work overload; work stress; work-related well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest in the publication of this article. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The second-order model of burnout based on the conceptualization of the BAT. Note: ex = exhaustion, md = mental distance, ci = cognitive impairment, ei = emotional impairment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect sizes with 95% CIs for the second-order burnout factor with Belgium as a reference group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect sizes with 95% CIs for the first-order burnout component with Belgium as a reference group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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