Perceived control, depressive symptomatology, and professional burnout: A review of the evidence

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Abstract
The term “burnout” refers to a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur in human service professionals. There are now over 2,000 publications on the topic. This paper reviews a subset of the literature concerned with burnout, depressive symptomatology, and perceptions of job control. It appears that the first two constructs share appreciable variance but are not isomorphic. Research also indicates that the development of burnout has a modest association with perceptions of job uncontrollability (i.e., perceived lack of autonomy and little decisional latitude). A conceptual model proposing that perceived uncontrollability induces depression indirectly. by operating through differences in the magnitude of burnout received only equivocal support in longitudinal studies. Prospective designs were proposed as a high priority for future burnout research. Other recommendations for future research included rests of a model that hypothesizes frustrated achievement striving as a key etiological factor in the development of burnout and depressive affect.