Cisneros-Vidal María Aranzazu, Peñaherrera-Aguirre Mateo, Vaca-Gallegos Silvia L, Paladines Belén, Ruisoto Pablo
Department of Psychology, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 5;16:1516762. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1516762. eCollection 2025.
The distinction between job burnout and depression remains debated, particularly among healthcare professionals exposed to chronic work-related stress. This study examined the mediating role of psychological stress in the relationship between job burnout and depression in an Ecuadorian context.
A cross-sectional sample of 437 physicians and nurses was recruited with the support of Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health. Participants completed the PHQ-9, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of all instruments. A structural equation model tested the mediating effect of psychological stress, and multi-group analyses evaluated measurement invariance by gender.
Confirmatory factor analysis supported the latent structures of the PSS-10 and PHQ-9, while only the personal accomplishment subscale of the MBI-HSS demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties in this sample. The structural equation model showed that psychological stress partially mediated the association between personal accomplishment and depressive symptoms. Measurement invariance across gender was supported, although males and females exhibited different symptom patterns: Men reported more cognitive-affective symptoms, while women endorsed more somatic and concentration-motor features.
These findings support the interpretation of job burnout as a potential work-related manifestation of depression, with psychological stress functioning as a transdiagnostic mechanism. From a public health perspective, interventions should target not only individual-level symptoms but also systemic occupational stressors that shape mental health outcomes among healthcare professionals.
职业倦怠与抑郁症之间的区别仍存在争议，尤其是在面临长期工作相关压力的医疗保健专业人员中。本研究在厄瓜多尔的背景下，考察了心理压力在职业倦怠与抑郁症关系中的中介作用。
在厄瓜多尔公共卫生部的支持下，招募了437名医生和护士作为横断面样本。参与者完成了PHQ-9、感知压力量表（PSS-10）以及西班牙语版的马氏职业倦怠量表-人类服务调查（MBI-HSS）。验证性因素分析用于评估所有工具的有效性。结构方程模型检验了心理压力的中介作用，多组分析评估了性别间的测量不变性。
验证性因素分析支持了PSS-10和PHQ-9的潜在结构，而在本样本中，只有MBI-HSS的个人成就感子量表显示出令人满意的心理测量特性。结构方程模型表明，心理压力部分介导了个人成就感与抑郁症状之间的关联。支持了性别间的测量不变性，尽管男性和女性表现出不同的症状模式：男性报告更多认知情感症状，而女性认可更多躯体和注意力-运动特征。
这些发现支持将职业倦怠解释为抑郁症潜在的与工作相关的表现形式，心理压力作为一种跨诊断机制发挥作用。从公共卫生的角度来看，干预措施不仅应针对个体层面的症状，还应针对影响医疗保健专业人员心理健康结果的系统性职业压力源。
