Correlation between psychological resilience and burnout among female employees in a shopping mall in Xi Xian New Area,China:A cross-sectional survey

Qian ZHANG ,Lixiu LIU

1Department of Nursing,School of Nursing,Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine,Xianyang,China;2Department of Gynecology,Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Xianyang,China

ABSTRACT Objective:The objective of this study is to investigate the correlation between psychological resilience and burnout levels of female employees in a shopping mall.Materials and Methods:A convenience sampling method was used to select 213 female employees of a shopping mall in Xi Xian New District,Shaanxi Province,in October 2020,who were surveyed using general condition questionnaire,Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale,and burnout scale. Results:The psychological resilience score of 213 female employees was 60.52 ± 10.12 and the burnout score was 52.44 ± 10.76.The differences were statistically significant in psychological resilience scores regarding female employees’ different age (F=46.715, P =0.000),educational level (F=3.955, P =0.021),and whether they suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (F= 11.660, P ＜ 0.01).The differences in burnout scores were statistically significant among female employees’ different age (F=19.805, P ＜ 0.01),years of work (F =53.277,P ＜ 0.01),and whether they suffered from PCOS (F=16.119, P ＜ 0.01).There was a negative correlation between psychological resilience and burnout (r= 0.787, P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion:The psychological resilience score of female employees was generally low,and they suffered from a certain level of burnout.The mall managers should take corresponding measures for female employees to improve their psychological resilience level and reduce the degree of burnout.

Keywords:Burnout,correlation,female employees,psychological resilience,shopping mall

INTRODUCTION

Shopping mall is a densely staffed,highly mobile service industry in which most employees are women who tend to have more obvious psychological problems than men due to their delicate and sentimental nature.[1]Meanwhile,female employees in shopping malls are prone to induce burnout due to the special nature of their work.Hence,they require a certain level of psychological resilience to mediate those problems.Psychological resilience refers to the ability of individuals to develop their psychological functions normally despite the effects of adversity and intense stress.[2,3]Psychological resilience was introduced late in China,which has been mainly applied in the fields of psychology,educational theory and educational management,and psychiatry,[4]while the studies on psychological resilience in other countries mainly focused on the coping styles,adverse emotions,and interventions when individuals faced adversity or trauma.[5]Burnout has become a common problem in the workplace,especially in service-oriented occupational groups.Burnout is a psychosomatic depletion syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion,depersonalization,and low achievement that occurs under the constant pressure of work.[6,7]El-Ibiaryet al.[8]measured the level of burnout among teachers in the United States and found that 41% of these participants had burnout.In China,the burnout rate of civil service groups in 30 provinces,cities,and autonomous regions was as high as 50% or more.[9]There are few such reports on female mall employees,a large and special group.Therefore,this paper conducted a questionnaire survey on female employees of a shopping mall in Xi Xian New Area,China,in October 2020,aiming to investigate their psychological resilience and burnout level,and to provide a reference basis for reducing their burnout level.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Participants

A convenience sampling method was used to select 216 female employees of a shopping mall in Xi Xian New Area,Shaanxi Province,China,in October 2020.The inclusion criteria were female employees who worked in the mall over 1 year,voluntarily participated in the study,and signed informed consent.The exclusion criteria were employees diagnosed with heart,brain,kidney,and other important organ diseases,or employees suffering psychological disorders.

Survey instruments General information questionnaire

A review of the literature revealed that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was a common disorder of the endocrine system in women,which had a certain correlation with psychology.[10,11]Combining the results of the literature and the purpose of this study,we designed the questionnaire for collecting general information of the participants,including age,educational level,position,years of work,monthly income,and whether they suffer from PCOS.

Psychological resilience scale

The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC),translated and revised by Yu and Zhang[12]was used in this study.The scale includes 25 items in 3 dimensions of resilience,strength,and optimism,using a 5-point scale to describe the psychological feelings of the participants in the past month.The higher the score,the higher the level of psychological resilience was.The CD-RISC scale had been widely used in different populations.In this study,the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.86.

Burnout scale

The scale was translated and revised by Li and Shi.[13]It consisted of 15 items in three dimensions (emotional exhaustion,cynicism,and low achievement) and each of item was rated on a scale ranging from 0 (never) to 6 (every day).It mainly described the adverse reaction of work on individual’s body and mind,individual’s attitude toward work,and self-evaluation of work achievement.Higher score indicated higher level of burnout.In this study,the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.84.

Ethical considerations

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No.2020000920).The questionnaire survey was conducted anonymously,and the purpose and significance of the survey were informed to the participants before the survey.We also committed that the researchers strived to do no harm to the participants.All information will be used for the study and will be kept strictly confidential.

Survey method and data collection

After informing the purpose and significance of the survey to the participants and obtaining their consent,the researchers distributed the questionnaires to them and explain how to finish the questionnaire,and required them to fill in the questionnaire independently,correctly,and completely.Totally,216 questionnaires were distributed and 213 valid questionnaires were finally collected,with an effective rate of 98.6%.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive analysis,t-test,ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis in SPSS20.0 statistical software (SPSS,Chicago,IL,USA) were used for data processing,andP＜ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Score of psychological resilience and burnout level of female employees

The total psychological resilience scores of 213 female employees ranged from 33 to 81,among which the 3 dimensions of resilience,strength,and optimism scores,respectively ranged from 16 to 43,11 to 28,and 5 to 15.The total burnout scores ranged from 35 to 82,among which the 3 dimensions of emotional exhaustion,cynicism,and low achievement scores ranged from 10 to 29,8 to 22,and 11 to 32.The mean and standard deviation of score of psychological resilience and burnout level of female mall employees were shown in Table 1.

Psychological resilience and burnout scores of female employees with different demographic characteristics

The differences were statistically significant (P＜ 0.05) in the total psychological resilience scores of female employees with ages,educational level and whether they suffered from PCOS.The differences were statistically significant (P＜ 0.05) when comparing the total burnout scores of female employees with different ages,years of work experience,and whether they suffered from PCOS [Table 2].

Table 1:Scores of psychological resilience and burnout level of 213 female employees

Correlation between psychological resilience and burnout among female employees

Psychological resilience of female employees in shopping malls was negatively correlated with burnout (P＜ 0.01) [Table 3].

Table 2:Psychological resilience and burnout scores of female employees with different demographic characteristics

Table 3:Correlation between psychological resilience and burnout among female employees (n=213) (r)

DISCUSSION

The psychological resilience scale score (60.52 ± 10.12) was lower than the national norm (65.40 ± 13.90) among the 213 female employees in shopping malls in this survey.[14]This may be due to the fact that the shopping mall is a service industry that is different from other occupations.As female employees in shopping malls,they have to face different people every day and take a targeted approach to serve customers,even being verbally violated.[15]Moreover,women are prone to form posttraumatic stress disorder after being hit,[1]and it is difficult to adjust their psychological state in a short time.Therefore,such female employees present a relatively low level of psychological resilience.

According to the results of this survey,the total burnout score of 213 female mall employees was 52.44 ± 10.76,where the scores of each dimension from highest to lowest were emotional exhaustion,low sense of achievement,and cynicism.The study also found that emotional exhaustion was the most prominent problem,which was consistent with the findings of Dreheret al.[16]It may be due to thelong-standing time and long working hours and short vacation time at work,while female employees are required to take on more household chores in addition to work.[17]Thus,without enough passion and interests at work,female employees would be more prone to emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue.

The results of this research suggested that the psychological resilience of employees gradually increased with age.The possible reason is that the older they are,the more experience they have.With more experience,they can address the difficulties they encounter with a positive mindset.In this survey,only female employees aged 46-55 had a higher total psychological resilience score than the national norm,indicating that shopping malls,as complex places,had a role in sharpening the psychological resilience of employees.Similar findings were found in the study by Wang and Zhang.[18]The current survey also found that the higher the education level,the higher the psychological resilience score,indicating that education could contribute to the shaping of psychological resilience.A study was found that women suffering from PCOS often had a series of psychological barriers due to the physical signs of the disease,which affected their psychological resilience level.[19]As the results of this survey showed that the total psychological resilience scores of female employees in shopping malls with PCOS were significantly lower than those of healthy women.Hence,the managers of shopping malls should pay attention to the female employees,help them to regulate their own emotions,maintain an optimistic attitude and improve their psychological resilience level.

According to the results of this survey,different ages,working years,and whether they had PCOS affected the burnout scores.The relatively high total burnout score of younger employees indicated that the younger the age,the more serious the burnout level,which was similar to the findings of Michelle.[20]It is probably because female mall employees repeat the same work every day,which lacks novelty and challenge,while young people do not want to do mechanical work.At the same time,young employees may take on more physical labor in their jobs,so their interest in work decreases and more significant burnout occurs.In addition,the total burnout score increased relatively with the increase of working years,which was consistent with the findings in Wen’s study,[21]because the longer one works in an industry,the less novelty and curiosity there would be,and burnout would gradually appear.This study also found that female employees with PCOS had more severe levels of burnout,which may be related to the metabolic abnormalities caused by PCOS.[18]Therefore,mall managers should pay attention to the female employees with PCOS and give enough care to help them minimize the level of burnout.

The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that psychological resilience of female employees in shopping malls was negatively correlated with burnout,which was consistent with the findings of several researchers.[22,23]The higher psychological resilience scores,the more they can withstand the stress from work or life,the more they can cope with difficulties and frustrations comfortably,and the weaker the degree of burnout generated at work.The results indicated that psychological resilience could inversely predict burnout and prevent burnout.The mall managers should take effective measures to improve the level of psychological resilience of female employees,so that female employees can continuously maintain an optimistic and positive initial mind.At the same time,they can enhance the motivation of work through reward and other mechanisms,thus reducing the level of burnout.

The limitations of this study are that the sample size is too small and only one mall in one area is selected.In future studies,researchers should expand the sample size and the scope of surveys to provide a stronger basis for relevant researches.

CONCLUSION

Through the investigation and analysis of the psychological resilience and burnout of female employees in a shopping mall in Xi Xian New Area,this study was found that the psychological resilience scores of female mall employees are generally low,and they suffered from a certain level of burnout.In order to improve their psychological resilience level and reduce the level of burnout,attention should be paid to the group of female employees in the mall,help them to regulate their own emotions,give enough care to them,and enhance the motivation of work through reward and other mechanisms.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.