Work-home interference predicts burnout in Norwegian doctors: a 15-year follow-up study

Introduction
In Norway, early career doctors face increasing stress due to work-home interference. Stress can increase the risk of burnout. There are very few studies that examine these relationships in a prospective and longitudinal design. We use data from a 15 year longitudinal study of a representative sample of Norwegian young doctors to propose a comprehensive model to explore relationships between individual and organizational predictors and burnout.

Methods
All Norwegian medical graduates in 1993/94 (N = 631, 57 % females) were invited to participate in a longitudinal survey with assessments at five different time points (1993/94,1996/97,1999, 2003, 2008). Response rates ranged from 62 to 82%. We predicted the level of emotional exhaustion (Maslach’s Burnout Inventory) 14 years after graduation with regression analysis. Predictors at baseline were demographic data, personality traits and coping strategies. Other predictors, such as burnout, job stress, work hours, colleague support, having a partner and having children were assessed 9 years after graduation.

Results
The level of emotional exhaustion was stable during 15 years of follow-up. The level of emotional exhaustion 14 years after graduation was independently predicted by the amount of work-home interface stress (β=.111, p= .032) five years earlier, when controlled for gender, age, personality traits, burnout level in the 9th postgraduate year, and other univariately significant predictors. There were no gender interactions.

Discussion
Emotional exhaustion in the 14thpostgraduate year, was independently predicted by work-home interference five years earlier for both men and women. These results point to the importance of reducing work-home interface stress among young doctors in order to prevent the development of burnout.