extended · article · 2012

Internal construct validity of the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ)

Åsa Lundgren‐Nilsson; Ingibjörg H. Jónsdóttir; Julie Pallant; Gunnar Ahlborg

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a mental condition defined as a result of continuous and long-term stress exposure, particularly related to psychosocial factors at work. This paper seeks to examine the psychometric properties of the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) for validation of use in a clinical setting. METHODS: Data from both a clinical (319) and general population (319) samples of health care and social insurance workers were included in the study. Data were analysed using both classical and modern test theory approaches, including Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Rasch analysis. RESULTS: Of the 638 people recruited into the study 416 (65%) persons were working full or part time. Data from the SMBQ failed a CFA, and initially failed to satisfy Rasch model expectations. After the removal of 4 of the original items measuring tension, and accommodating local dependency in th...