JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR, VOL.

12, 123-144(1991)

Coping patterns as predictors of burnout:

The function of control and escapist coping
patterns
MICHAEL P. LEITER
Psychology Department, Acadia University. IVolfville. Nova Scotia. Canada

Summary The paper attempts to bring concepts developed in cognitive approaches to stress and
coping to a model which predicts burnout as a function of organizational demands and
resources. Workers in a mental hospital (A^ = 177) provided information regarding coping
patterns, burnout, and organizational commitment as well as various demands and
resources in the work environment. A LISREL analysis confirmed that burnout is best
considered a function of coping patterns as well as a function of organizational demands
and resources. Control coping cognitions and actions were associated with decreased
burnout, while escapist coping strategies were associated with increased burnout. The
analysis indicated relationships of coping patterns with organizational commitment could
be operating indirectly through the relationships of both coping patterns and commitment
with the burnout. The paper discusses implications of these findings for interventions
designed to alleviate or prevent burnout.

Introduction

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) suggested an approach towards defining coping patterns 'in terms of
the functions coping strategies serve, for example, to avoid, confront, or analyze' (p. 178). They
indicate that this approach would allow one to examine the problem-solving aspect of coping as
well as its emotion-regulating function. They emphasize the need for describing stable patterns of
coping in a manner which gives full recognition to the complexity and flexibility inherent in
day-to-day coping behaviors. They suggest a process of identifying coping patterns through the
observation of multiple coping incidents across a variety of coping situations, although they
recognize the demands in terms of time and resources associated with such an undertaking.
Lattack (1986) developed a measure of coping which differentiates between control and escape
oriented coping based on an integration of ideas presented by various researchers. As such, the
scale encompasses the dichotomy between emotion-oriented coping and problem-oriented coping
emphasized by Lazarus and Folkman (1984), as well as the focus on both cognitive appraisal and

This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The author
wishes to express his thanks to Ms Deborah Pick for her assistance in the project, Dr Peter Shackleton and the Psychology
Department of the Nova Scotia Hospital for their support, and to the staff of the Novia Scotia Hospital for their
participation.

0894-3796/91/020123-^22$11.00 Received 31 March 1989

© 1991 by John WUey & Sons, Ltd. Revised 7 August 1989
124 M, P, LEITER

situation management presented by Moos and Billings (1982). Latack's measure defines control as
'consisting of actions and cognitive reappraisals that are proactive, take-charge in tone; [and
escape as] consisting of both actions and cognitive reappraisals that suggest an escapist, avoidance
mode (p. 378). Her analysis indicated that control and escape strategies emerged as two distinct
clusters, and that these clusters were generally stable across different types of stressful situations in
work settings. However, the cognitive appraisal and action components of these clusters were not
distinct from one another. Subjects who indicated they regularly employed cognitive behaviors
also indicated they employed action control behaviors; those who employed escapist cognitions
used escapist actions as well.
An imoortant question in assessing the utility of a mode of coping is its effectiveness at
managing stress. Latack's measure is specifically relevant to job stress. Burnout is a reaction to
chronic stress experienced by people who provide services to other people. Emotional exhaustion,
as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), provides a general measure of adverse
emotional reactions to the stress and tedium a person is experiencing in a human service
occupation (Maslach and Jackson, 1981, 1986). Depersonalization refers to an unfeeling and
callous response toward people who are usually the recipients of one's service or care. Diminished
personal accomplishment refers to a decline in one's feelings of competence and successful
achievement in one's work with people. The combination of the three subscales results in a rich
measure of burnout which includes both a person's emotional reaction to stress as well as
subsequent reactions to this emotional state in terms of evaluations of others (depersonalization),
and self-evaluation (personal accomplishment). As such, the MBI does not produce a single
burnout score: One must examine the relationships among the three MBI subscales as well as their
relationships to other measures to examine factors which lead to the development of the
syndrome.
Studies of burnout in human service organizations have consistently found substantial
variations in experienced burnout within a particular worksetting (Leiter and Maslach, 1988;
Jackson, Schwab and Schuler, 1986; Golembiewski and Munzenrider, 1988). These studies have
found increased burnout to be associated with higher levels of demand and lower levels of
resources necessary to address these demands. Research to date has focused on work overload,
interpersonal conflict, and role confiict/ambiguity as major sources of demand, while social
support and skill utilization have provided measures of resources (Maslach and Jackson, 1986;
Leiter, 1988a, b).
A central tenant of the model of stress and coping developed by Lazarus and associates (e.g.
Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) is that differences in stress levels reflect to some extent differences in
the appraisal process used by individuals when confronted with a situation which could be
construed as a threat or a challenge. It follows from this perspective that information regarding an
individual's coping patterns would supplement information regarding demands and resources to
provide a stronger prediction of experienced burnout. As an enduring reaction to chronic stress
(Chernis, 1980), burnout is consistent with relatively stable coping patterns, both in terms of
actions and cognitive appraisals.
The distancing aspect of depersonalization shares characteristics with the escapist cognitive
appraisal strategies described by Latack, but the model of burnout employed here (see Leiter and
Maslach, 1988; Leiter, 1988a) considers depersonalization to be more of a symptom of chronic
stress than a viable approach to coping. Depersonalization is invariably found to be positively
correlated with emotional exhaustion (see Maslach and Jackson, 1986); an effective coping
response would be negatively correlated with stress symptoms in some circumstances.
Depersonalization as measured by the MBI includes the experience of emotional hardening as
well as mechanistic, unfeeling perceptions of service recipients. Both features are incompatible
 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 125

with values promoted in the professional socialization process in the training of human service
workers and in their further development in their professions. The escapist behaviors investigated
by Latack are not as clearly antithetical to professional value systems. They are likely to be used as
coping attempts earlier in the development of a stress reaction.
In contrast, burnout appears to be inconsistent with control-oriented coping in regard to either
appraisal or action. Control coping behaviors imply a level of energy and optimism on the part of
the actor which are absent in the experience of burnout. According to Latack (1986) control
coping items were generally negatively correlated with stress symptoms (psychosomatic illness,
propensity to leave, etc) while escapist coping was positively related to these symptoms. This study
examines the extent to which the same pattern of correlations is present between these coping
patterns and burnout.

A model of burnout
The Leiter (1988a, 1989) model conceptualizes burnout as a cognitive-emotional reaction to
chronic stress in human service settings. It recognizes the central role served by work in fulfilling
aspirations, achieving life goals, and providing opportunities for diverse kinds of social contacts.
The central component, emotional exhaustion, is indicative of the emotional toll which the
experience has taken on the worker. Although human service professionals enter their careers
actively seeking meaningful contact with service recipients, providing services to people who are
often in distress is demanding (Cherniss, 1980; Burke, Shearer and Deszca, 1984). Additional
demands or insufficient support from organizational sources can readily exceed the workers'
strained capacity. Emotional exhaustion is the defining feature of burnout in the model: Workers
who are not emotionally exhausted, but who express an impersonal view of clients or diminished
assessments of their own accomplishment have a job-related problem other than burnout.
The MBI measure of emotional exhaustion supplies information pertinent to the primary
appraisal process in items such as, 'I feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face
another day on the job', in that an endorsement of this statement indicates that the worksetting is
perceived as a threat to one's sense of well-being. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) describe the
subsequent reappraisal process as influenced by feedback regarding the subject's initial emotional
reaction to stressful situations. In short, if I feel threatened, I must be in a stressful situation. It
follows that the attribution of emotional exhaustion to the ongoing v.ork situation, as suggested
by the item cited above, would be consistent with the development of chronic stress.
The more cognitive aspects of burnout, depersonalization and diminished personal
accomplishment, are indicative of an impoverishment of workers' perceptions and thoughts of
their service recipients and themselves respectively. Diminished personal accomplishment has
implications for the secondary appraisal process (in which a person assesses the adequacy of
available resources to address a potential threat) in that it implies a paucity of personal resources
which would not bode well for assessment of subsequent coping success.
A central question in assessing the three-aspect conceptualization of burnout is determining the
extent to which each aspect bears a distinct relationship with associated variables (Perlman and
Hartman, 1982; Jackson et al., 1986). The model places emotional exhaustion in a central
position. Exhaustion is the aspect of burnout which is most responsive to the nature and intensity
of stressors in the work environment. The experience of exhaustion is the critical event in the
development of burnout in this model. It provides the background within which workers appraise
their service recipients and their resources. Workers who are experiencing emotional exhaustion
are more likely to depersonalize their perceptions of clients or to diminish feelings of
126 M. P. LEITER

accomplishment if they lack supportive relationships with their immediate supervisors or with
coworkers, or if their abilities are underutilized. Access to resources in the work environment
provides the support necessary to address the feelings of exhaustion. Workers who perceive the
available organizational resources to be inadequate to address the stressful situations presented in
the workplace are vulnerable in regard to both their professional identity and their self-esteem.
Erosion in professional identity or commitment is evident in depersonalized perceptions of service
recipients; erosion in self-esteem and self-efficacy is reflected in diminished personal
accomplishment. In all, burnout is considered as including a complex interaction of cognitive
factors regarding causal attributions concerning the workplace and personal career aspirations.
Figure 1 provides a general summary of the model. Organizational stressors (conflict and
workload) determine levels of emotional exhaustion. Exhaustion, in turn, leads to
depersonalization and diminished accomplishment, especially when organizational supports
(social support and skill utilization) are lacking. This aspect of the model does not imply an
interactive relationship between emotional exhaustion and the other aspects of burnout: Lack of
organizational supports may lead to increased depersonalization and diminished accomplishment

Organizational Stressors

Work Interpersonal
f -> Conflict
Overload
\-
Control
Coping

Escape
Coping Emotional Exhaustion

f B
m U
R
Depersonaiization N
0
Organizationai U
Supports T

Personai Accompiishment
Coworker Support
f
Supervisor Support
Skill 1 len +
V 1 Organizational
' T^ Commitment

Figure 1, General model organizational determinants of burnout

 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 127

without a contribution from emotional exhaustion (See Golembiewski and Munzenrider, 1988).
Increased emotional exhaustion acts as an additional and strong main effect contributing to the
development of the other aspects of burnout in conjunction with the lack of supports. In the
model organizational stressors have little direct impact on depersonalization and diminished
accomplishment. Instead, stressors aggravate these reactions through bringing about the
experience of emotional exhaustion.
The model depicts the subjective experience of burnout as affecting work-related attitudes and
behaviors. This study focuses on organizational commitment as an outcome measure. In the
model various aspects of burnout as well as the level of organizational supports infiuence the level
of organizational commitment, but the infiuence of job stressors on commitment is mediated
through exhaustion.
The major objective of this study is to assess the contribution of coping strategies to the
development of burnout (or the avoidance thereof) while taking into account the contribution of
organizational variables which have consistently been found to be related to burnout. Simply put,
this study includes coping strategies as a personal variable to the model of burnout presented
above. This undertaking goes beyond merely establishing a reasonably expected relationship
between burnout and coping abilities; it demonstrates that coping strategies are related to burnout
in a manner distinct from the relationships of specified organizational measures to burnout.

Organizational commitment
Organizational commitment is a complex construct which includes behavioral as well as
attitudinal components (Mowday, Porter and Steers, 1982). It includes the extent to which
workers incorporate the values of the organization, as well as their intention to remain a part of
the organization. In a critical review of commitment research. Morrow (1983) indicated that the
Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) developed by Mowday, Steers and Porter
(1975) is the most credible measure of commitment currently in use.
Previous research (Leiter, 1988b; Leiter and Maslach, 1988) has provided support for a model
in which burnout is a mediating variable between organizational demands and organizational
commitment. From this perspective, the organizational commitment of human service workers
does not diminish directly as a function of excessive organizational demands, but as a reaction to
the cognitive and emotional experiences of burnout which in turn arise from an excess of demands
over resources. To the extent that diminished organizational commitment is a function of
burnout, information regarding coping patterns would not be expected to contribute to the
prediction of commitment beyond the prediction provided by the burnout measure alone. The
contribution of coping patterns is expected to occur during the confrontation with potential
stressors by influencing the level of burnout, not subsequently when coping has either succeeded
or failed.

Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1
Control coping will be negatively associated with burnout. Escapist coping will be positively
related with burnout. Each half of this hypothesis has three distinct components in that these
relationships are expected for each of the three aspects of burnout measured by the MBI:
emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment.
128 M, P, LEITER

Hypothesis 2
(This hypothesis provides a context for assessing the subsequent hypotheses.) The model of
burnout depicted in Figure 1 in terms of organizational demands (conflict and work overload)
and supports (skill use, supervisor support, and coworker support) will be confirmed. This
hypothesis has four major components which will be tested in a LISREL analysis.

Emotional exhaustion Emotional exhaustion will be positively related to both organizational

stressors: work overload and interpersonal conflict.

Depersonalization Depersonalization will be positively related to emotional exhaustion and

negatively to the organizational supports (coworker and supervisor support, skill utilization). Any
relationship between the organizational stressors and depersonalization will be mediated through
emotional exhaustion.

Diminished personal accomplishment This will be positively related to both emotional

exhaustion and depersonalization and negatively related to the organizational supports (coworker
and supervisor support, skill utilization). Any relationship between the organizational stressors
and personal accomplishment will be mediated through emotional exhaustion.

Organizational commitment This will be negatively related to the burnout subscales and
positively related to the organizational supports {coworker and supervisor support, skill
utilization). Any relationship between the organizational stressors and organizational
commitment will be mediated through burnout.

Hypothesis 3
Coping strategies will account for a significant proportion of the variance in each of the three
aspect of burnout beyond that explained by the current model. This hypothesis implies that
information regarding coping patterns is not redundant with information regarding
organizational demands or resources. It indicates that control coping strategies do not necessarily
diminish the extent to which workers encounter stressors in the work situation, but they assist
workers in addressing stressors when they do encounter them. It is also consistent with the
position that control coping is a distinct personal resource on which a worker can rely in addition
to external resources (social support and skill utilization). Further, it indicates that not only are
escapist coping strategies less effective than control strategies, but that they actually increase the
likelihood of burnout developing. This hypothesis is consistent with the position that escapist
coping is a distinct personal limitation which contributes to workers' stress reactions beyond the
infiuence of stressors and supports in the organizational environment.

Method

Subjects
The participants in this study were 177 staff members of a mental hospital in which there were 400
staff members involved in providing care. They included members of all disciplines and all wards
 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 129

within the hospital. They had been working at the hospital for an average of 8 years with a range
from 1 month to 22 years. The participants were fairly evenly distributed over the age range: Less
than 31 (51), 31-40 (46), 41-50 (52), 51 and over (26). They were mostly female (126), and mostly
married: single (35), married (109), divorced (15), other (15). There was a wide range of
educational backgrounds represented: high school (14), nursing certificate (19), registered nurse
(56) bachelors of nursing (41), masters (15), doctorate (19). The participants represented various
mental health professional groups: nursing (105), recreation/occupational therapy (10),
psychology (9) psychiatry (13), social work (11), education (3), ward clerks (5), other (4).
Participation levels were correlated with education: Virtually all staff with university degrees
participated, but less than half the staff with nursing certificates or high school education
participated.
The study occurred at the Nova Scotia Hospital in Dartmouth. Nova Scotia, Canada, during
the early months of 1988. The hospital has been in existence since the late 19th century. It is
primarily an inpatient facility serving the province, but includes an outpatient mental health clinic
and a day hospital program for the surrounding community.

Instruments
Burnout
Burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach and Jackson, 1981, 1986).
The MBI is a 22-item measure which produces three scores: Emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. The current version of the scale (Maslach and
Jackson, 1986) uses only a frequency measure; the intensity and frequency measures of the
previous version were highly correlated.

Organizational commitment
Organizational commitment was measured by a short version of the Organizational Commitment
Questionnaire (Mowday et al., 1975). This scale produces one score, which is indicative of the
extent to which a subject values the organization for which he or she works.

Interpersonal conflict
Interpersonal conflict was measured by three items on which participants indicated the frequency
of confiict they encountered with patients, coworkers, or members of other health disciplines. The
scores on these three items were summed to produce one score, interpersonal conflict.

Work overload and skill utilization

Work overload was measured using four items (see Leiter, 1988b) from a previous questionnaire
survey conducted jointly by the Council of Teaching Hospitals, the Registered Nurses Association
of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Health (1981) which adapted items from
Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal (1964). The scores on these four items were summed
to produce one score, workload. Skill utilization was measured with four other items from the
survey described above (Leiter, 1988b), The scores on these four items were summed to produce
one score, skill utilization.
130 M, P. LEITER

Contact ratings
A contact rating scale (Leiter and Maslach, 1988) consists of items measuring instrumental and
emotional support from central members of a worker's communication network. The scale
includes items which are relevant to coworkers of equal status as well as to supervisors. As such,
this scale permits a comparison of the distinct forms of social support received from fellow
employees who differ in their organizational roles. Some items directly assess emotional support
while others assess the extent to which participants view their coworker or supervisor as a source
of expertise and information on which they can draw. In this study, subjects were asked to rate
their immediate supervisor/unit head, and their favorite coworker on a seven point scale from
'Strongly disagree' (1) to 'Strongly agree' (7). As such, the scale focuses on social support as
provided through close personal relationships at work. The scale produces two scores —
supervisor support and coworker support — which are the sums of their respective ratings on the
nine items.

Coping survey
Subjects were asked to complete the action and cognitive reappraisal items developed by Latack
(1986) with the instructions: 'Indicate the extent to which you engage in the following activities

Table 1. Factor loadings: Action and cognitive reappraisal items

Item Control Escapist
1, Get together with my supervisor to discuss this 0.27 0.06
2, Try to be very organized so that I can keep on top of things 0.34 0.07
3, Talk with people (other than my supervisor) who are involved 0,54 0.05
4, Try to see this situation as an opportunity to learn and develop new skills 0,60 0.19
5, Put extra attention on planning and scheduling 0.58 0.23
6, Try to think of myself as a winner — as someone who always comes through 0.57 0.06
7, Tell myself that I can probably work things out to my advantage 0.56 0.10
8, Devote more time and energy to doing my job 0.68 0.15
9, Try to get additional people involved in the situation 0.51 0,07
10, Think about the challenges I can find in this situation 0.64 0,09
11, Try to work faster and more efficiently 0.55 0.23
12, Decide what I think should be done and explain this to the people who are
affected 0,60 0.02
13, Give it my best effort to do what I think is expected of me 0.54 0,05
14, Request help from people who have the power to do something for me 0.56 0.14
15, Seek advice from people outside the situation who may not have power but
who can help me think of ways to do what is expected of me 0.43 0.07
16, Work on changing policies which have caused this situation 0.41 0.10
17, Throw myself into my work and work harder, longer hours 0.41 0.13
18, Avoid being in this situation if I can 0.11 0.58
19, Tell myself that time takes care of situations like this 0.17 0.51
20, Try to keep away from this type of situations 0.03 0.73
21, Remind myself that work isn't everything 0.01 0,54
22, Anticipate the negative consequences so that I'm prepared for the worst 0,08 0.48
23, Delegate work to others 0.19 0.22
24, Separate myself as much as possible from the people who created this
situation 0.07 0.58
25, Try not to be concerned about it 0.18 0.56
26, Do my best to get out of the situation gracefully 0.01 0.57
27, Accept this situation because there is nothing I can do to change it 0.06 0.53
28, Set my own priorities based on what I like to do 0.06 0.30
 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 131

when you are having difficulties with your job responsibilities'. A confirmatory factor analysis (see
Table 1) found the data to be consistent with a two-factor solution similar to the cluster structure
reported by Latack: Items 1-17 constituted a control factor; items 18-28 constituted an escapist
factor. In the factor analysis, the first two factors had eigen values greater than 2.00 (5.13 and 3.09
respectively), and each accounted for more than 10 per cent ofthe variance (18.3 per cent and 11.1
per cent respectively). Two scores were derived from this measure: Control coping as the sum of
items 1-17; escapist coping as the sum of items 18-28. This factor structure was most similar to
that found by Latack to be associated with role ambiguity.

Procedure

The researchers attended meetings of the clinical departments: psychology, psychiatry, nursing,
motivational services, and social work. They then met with individual treatment units. During the
meetings they discussed the purpose and scope of the research. They elicited suggestions from the
staff about issues and concerns which they thought should be addressed by a project of this sort.
The confidential nature of the questionnaires was emphasized. The researchers worked with the
employees to establish means of returning questionnaires in a secure fashion: They were either
mailed (at the discretion of the participant) directly to the researchers' university address (stamps
provided by the researchers) or through hospital interdepartmental mail to the psychology
department secretary.
The researchers assured participants that all research reports would be available to all
participants: No privileged information would be given to the hospital administration. They also
assured participants that the data would be presented in a manner which would not allow
identification of any individual participants or to permit comparisons among units. Although
sufficient information was provided to ensure informed consent on the part of participants, the
researchers did not discuss research hypotheses.

Results
Table 2 displays the means, standard deviations, Cronbach alphas, and Pearson correlation
coefficients among the variables in the study. They are generally consistent with those found in
previous research. The alpha levels of the variables are acceptable. The demographic variables
were not significantly related to the variables used in the study, except for the generally found
positive correlation between age and organizational commitment (r = 0.35,/? < 0.01). The lack of
significant relationships between the variables and education level suggests that the results are
relevant to the full range of mental health workers. Note that the MBI personal accomplishment
scale is reversed in the analysis, and labelled diminished personal accomplishment.

Coping patterns (hypothesis 1)

As Table 2 indicates, the correlational analysis provided substantial support for the first
hypothesis. Control coping was negatively associated with all three burnout subscales; escapist
coping was positively correlated with all three subscales, but the correlation fell short of
132 M. P. LEITER

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significance for diminished personal accomplishment. In addition to these relationships predicted

in hypothesis 1, neither coping pattern was related to stressors (conflict and work overload, but
control coping was positively associated with organizational commitment and organizational
supports (skill use, supervisor support, and coworker support). Escapist coping was negatively
associated with skill use. Control coping and escapist coping tended to be positively associated
with one another. This correlation (r = 0.17) was on the same order as that reported by Latack
(1986). It was considerably lower than the correlations she found within each coping pattern
across problem situations, and therefore was consistent with her evidence of discriminant validity
between the two coping patterns.

Model testing (hypothesis 2)

The model depicted in Figure 1 was tested through a LISREL structural equation analysis
(Joreskog and Sorbom, 1985). In this model the predictor variables — confiict, workload, skill
utilization, supervisor support, coworker support, control coping and escape coping — were
defined as exogeneous variables. The three MBI subscales and the commitment measure were
defined as endogeneous variables.
The LISREL analysis permits the model to be evaluated in two ways: (1) A chi square goodness
of fit statistic to test the extent to which the model is consistent with the data; and (2) T-tests of
specific path coefficients to determine whether each of the various links indicated are an essential
part of the model. The rvalues computed by the LISREL program are not the usual Students
/-test values; generally, a rvalue greater than 2.00 is considered statistically significant (Joreskog
and Sorbom, 1985). Another important diagnostic statistic provided by the LISREL program are
modification indices which are computed for every possible path among endogenous variables or
from exogenous variables to endogenous variables which was not included in the model. A
modification index of greater than 5.00 indicates that the fit of the model would probably be
significantly enhanced were that path to be included.
The chi square goodness of fit statistic indicates the level of consistency between the covariances
implied by the model and the actual covariances found in the data. A large chi square value with a
low probability indicates that the data are significantly different from the model. In other words,
if an hypothesized model correctly describes the relationships among the variables, it is unlikely
that the data would look the way they do. A small, nonsignificant chi square value indicates that
the model fits the data well; they are not significantly different from one another.

Test of the whole world

The original LISREL analysis tested the model depicted in Figure 1 with all paths from coping
styles to the endogeneous variables set to zero to determine the extent to which information
regarding coping styles can be ignored in the context of other information regarding
organizational demands and supports. The analysis encountered severe identification problems
during computation, such that it could not provide a meaningful assessment of the model. When
the LISREL analysis encounters problems in analysis, it either grinds to a halt, or provides
meaningless output (e.g. negative values for P^ or correlation coefficients greater than 1.00). The
program provides direction in diagnosing the problem, but corrective actions largely amount to
hypothesis testing.
134 M. P. LEITER

Examination of the original output suggested that the difficulties lay with the paths to and from
personal accomphshment assigned in the BETA matrix. It appeared that the correlations of
personal accomplishment with the other endogenous variables could be better explained through
their shared associations with skill utilization (a central measure of organizational supports) and
with the coping measures rather than through direct paths among the endogeneous variables. This
hypothesis is a substantial departure from previous theorizing regarding interrelationships among
the MBl subscales, and will be discussed more thoroughly below.
The revised model, depicted in Figure 2, eliminated the paths from emotional exhaustion and
depersonalization to personal accomplishment, and the path from personal accomplishment to
organizational commitment. It retained all other paths. It included in addition a path from skill
utilization to emotional exhaustion.
This analysis proceeded successfully, although, as expected, it indicated that ignoring coping
styles resulted in a poor fit between the model and the data (x^(14) = 60.03, p < 0.001; adjusted
goodness of fit index = 0.752, mean square residual = 0.064). All of the coefficients were in the
predicted direction (See Table 3), but the T-tests of the coefficients indicated that four
relationships in the GAMMA did not make a significant contribution to the analysis: The paths

Organizational Stressors

Work interpersonal
Overload Conflict

1 I
Emotionai Exhaustion

Depersonaiization
Coworker &
Supervisor
Support
Personai Accompiishment

i
Organizationai
Commitment

Figure 2. Revised model

 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 135

Table 3. LISREL Matrices: Test of Model Without Coping Styles

LISREL estimates
BETA EE DP PA OCQ
EE *** *** *** ***
DP 0.498 *** *** ***
PA *** *** *** ***
OCQ -0.320 *** *** «*«
GAMMA
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
EE 0.346 0.268 -0.201 *** *** *** ***
DP *** *** -0.083 -0.060 -0.179 *** ***
PA *** *** 0.250 0.115 0.212 *** ***
OCQ *** *** 0.274 0.239 0.105 *** ***
PHI
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
Conflict 1.000
Workload 0.306 1.000
Skill -0.281 -0.176 1.000
Superv -0.353 -0.157 0.241 1.000
Coworker -0.186 -0.001 0.195 0.198 1.000
Control -0.123 -0.016 0.195 0.216 0.294 1.000
Escape 0.094 0.103 -0.197 -0.071 -0.077 0.173 1.000
PSl
EE DP PA OCQ
EE 0.652
DP -0.057 0.675
PA -0.147 -0.106 0.819
OCQ 0.065 0.026 0.003 0.624
Squared multiple correlations for structural equations
FE DP PA OCQ
0.348 0.311 0.168 0.363
Total coefficient of determination for structural equations: 0.580
Modification indices
BETA
EE DP PA OCQ
EE *** 4.315 5.539 8.136
DP *** *** 0.000 0.000
PA 0.001 0.001 *** 0.001
OCQ *** 0.000 0.000 ***
GAMMA
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
EE *** *** *** 6.943 2.020 12.269 1.031
DP 1.620 1.620 *** *** *** .015 1.366
PA 0.003 0.000 *** *** ••* 17.005 0.001
OCQ 3.049 3.049 *** *** *** 2.259 0.133
r-values
BETA
EE DP PA OCQ
EE *** *** *** ***
DP 3.646 *** *** ***
PA *** *** *** ***
OCQ -2.410 *** *** *** {cont.)
136 M, P, LEITER

Table 3. LISREL Matrices: Test of Model Without Coping Styles (continued)

GAMMA
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
EE 5.286 4.214 -3.097 *** *** *** ***
DP **« *** -1.056 -0.874 -2.751 *•* ***
PA **« *** 3.443 1,615 3.015 *** •**
OCQ *** *** 3.631 3.639 1.679 *** ***
PSI
EE DP PA OCQ
EE 9.192
DP -0.557 8.991
PA -2.554 -1.727 9,192
OCQ 0.655 0,513 0.051 8.908

from skill utilization and supervisor support to depersonalization, the path from supervisor
support to personal accomplishment, and the path from coworker support to commitment. The
largest modification indices were associated with the paths from control coping to emotional
exhaustion and to personal accomplishment, consistent with the hypothesis that the addition of
these paths would result in an improvement of the model. The zero modification indices
associated with the paths which were eliminated from the model are a further indication that the
relationships of personal accomplishment with the other endogenous variables could be explained
through their shared association with other variables without any reference to direct relationships
with personal accomplishment.

Coping patterns as a predictor of burnout and commitment (hypothesis 3)

The next step in the analysis involved testing the extent to which the addition of paths from
coping styles to the three MBI subscales resulted in an improvement of the model. The hypothesis
was tested in regard to two criteria: (1) A general assessment of the model as indicated by the
reduction in chi square goodness of fit measure and (2) examination of the /-values associated
with the six potential relationships between the two coping styles and the three MBI subscales.
The overall comparison of models was performed with a chi square difference test. Bentler and
Bonett (1980) propose using a chi square difference test to answer the rather straightforward
question of whether one model fits the data better than does another. When one model is a nested
version of a second model (i.e. includes the identical set of endogenous and exogenous variables,
and specifies all of the relationships specified in the first model, plus an additional set of
relationships among these variables), the difference in their chi square statistics can be tested for
significance. Simply put, the difference in the chi square scores of the two models is distributed as
chi square with degrees of freedom equal to the difference in degrees of freedom between the two
models. In a way each additional relationship specified in the second model costs one degree of
freedom in the goodness of fit test; the chi square difference test determines whether the
improvement in fit of the model is sufficient to warrant the cost of a degree of freedom in the
significance test. As such, this test is comparable to testing the significance of an increment in I^
in a multiple regression analysis, except that it applies to the test of an entire model.
To provide a clearer and more stringent assessment of the contribution of coping styles to the
model, the point of comparison was a model which included only the paths which were associated
 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 137

Organizational Stressors

Work Interpersonal
Overload Conflict

I
« Emotional
Exhaustion

Control
Depersonalization 1 ^ \ Coping
. - \
Coworker
Support Escape
1 1 ^+
Personal + N Coping
^. X Accomplishment
Skill
Utilization

Organizational * *<
Supervisor 1• + Commitment
Support

Figure 3. Revised model with coping styles

with / values greater than 2.00 in the previous analysis. This model resulted in a -)c{\%) = 67.13,/? <
0.001 (adjusted goodness of fit index = 0.788, mean square residual = 0.073). When the six
hypothesized relationships between coping styles and the MBI subscales were added to the model
(See Figure 3 and Figure 4), the modification resulted in a considerable improvement (x^(12) =
15.08, p = 0.237; adjusted goodness of fit index = 0.917. mean square residual = 0.030). The
difference between these values is significant, as predicted (x\6) = 52.05, p < 0.001).
Examination of the T-Values (See Table 4) indicates that both coping styles were related to
emotional exhaustion. The relationship between control coping and personal accomplishment
was clearly significant; although the relationship between escape coping did not quite attain the
2.00 level, the / value of 1.815 is sufficiently close to warrant retaining this relationship in further
explorations of the model. Neither of the relationships of coping styles with depersonalization
approached significance. None of the modification indices were greater than 5.00.
In summary, the results indicate support for the general expectation that information regarding
coping patterns was relevant to explaining burnout. In particular, they indicated that control
coping was incompatible with burnout, and that to a lesser degree escapist coping was compatible
with burnout.
138 M. P. LEITER

Table 4.
LISREL estimates
BETA
EE DP PA OCQ
EE *** *** *** ***
DP 0.578 *** *** ***
PA *** *** *** ***
OCQ -0.411 *** *** ***
GAMMA
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
EE 0.324 0.248 -0,135 *** *** -0.306 0.122
DP *** *** *** *** -0,177 -0.022 0.079
PA *** *** 0,182 *** 0,141 0.403 -0.123
OCQ *** *** 0,264 0.241 *** *** ***
PHI
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
Conflict 1.000
Workload 0,306 1.000
Skill -0.281 -0.176 1,000
Superv. -0.353 -0.157 -0.241 1,000
Coworker -0.186 -0.001 0,195 0.198 1.000
Control -0,123 -0.016 0.195 0.216 0.294 1.000
Escape 0.094 0.103 -0.197 -0,071 -0.077 0.173 1000
PSl
EE DP PA OCQ
EE 0,570
DP -0,108 0,688
PA -0,061 -0,093 0.703
OCQ 0.133 0,011 -0,028 0,650
Squared multiple correlations for structural equations
EE DP PA OCQ
0,429 0,312 0.297 0.347
Total coefficient of determination for structural equations: 0.679
Modification indices
BETA
EE DP PA OCQ
EE *** 0.125 0.125 3.622
DP *** *** 0,917 1.240
PA 0.072 0.072 «** 0,853
OCQ *** 1.424 2,357 ***
T-values
GAMMA
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
EE *** *** *** 3.622 0.125 *** ***
DP 0,938 2.591 0.917 0.414 *** *** ***
PA 0.095 0,009 *** 1.221 *** *** ***
OCQ 0.588 4.695 *** *** 2.079 1.672 0.352
BETA
EE DP PA OCQ
EE
DP 4.582 *** ***
PA *** *** ***
OCQ -3.458 {cont.)
 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 139

Table 4. (continued)
GAMMA
Conflict Workload Skill Superv. Coworker Control Escape
EE 5.300 4.191 -2.174 *** *** -5.116 2.054
DP *** *** *** *** -2.655 -0.271 1.120
PA *** «*« 2.685 *** 2.066 5.748 -1.815
OCQ *** *** 3.577 3.658 *** *** ***
PSI
EE DP PA OCQ
EE 9.192
DP -1.240 8.640
PA -1.245 -1.708 9.192
OCQ 1.608 0.205 -0.532 8.389

Interaction effects
The model analyzed here does not include interaction effects. Aneshensel and Stone (1982)
reviewed evidence for a buffering or moderating effect of social support, i.e. 'effective social
support networks mitigate the effect of stress on the individual's psychological well-being' (p.
1392). If social support functions as a resource on which a person draws when under strain, people
with weak social support networks would be expected to show a stronger correlation between
environmental stressors and stress reactions than would people buffered by strong social support
networks. From this perspective, social support is important only when confronting stressors;
otherwise, it is a dormant resource. The buffering effect is demonstrated by a statistical interaction
between stressors and social support when predicting stress reactions. An alternative model
presents social support as directly related to stress in that the absence of social support is a stressor
in and of itself, while its presence enhances one's sense of well-being. For example, Shumaker and
Brownell (1984) define social support as 'an exchange of resources between two individuals
perceived by the provider or the recipient to be intended to enhance the well-being of the recipient'
(p. 11). From this perspective, social support is important regardless ofthe amount of strain which
workers encounter in other areas of their lives. Aneshensel and Stone's (1982) analysis indicated
that the interaction term did not make a significant contribution to explaining stress reactions
over the direct effect model. It may be that social support functions both as a resource as well as a
direct contributor to a person's sense of well-being, but that the two functions are interrelated in a
manner which makes independent statistical analyses of them difficult. This multiple process may
account for the mixed findings in research on the moderating effects of social support (See
Aneshensel and Stone, 1982).
To test for interaction effects with the continuous variables used in this study, pairs of
standardized predictor variables were multiplied to produce a product vector which served as the
interaction variable. Multiple regress analyses were performed in which the significance of the
interaction variables was tested after the two predictor variables were entered. No evidence was
found of interaction effects in this study. Emotional exhaustion was investigated in relation to the
following interaction (/ value of the interaction in parentheses) using this procedure: conflict "
supervisor support (/(1175)= 113, n.s.), conflict x coworker support (/(i.i75) = 0.05, n.s.), workload *
supervisor support (/(1.175) = 1.16 n.s.), and workload x coworker support (/(1.175) = 116 n.s.), and
workload x coworker support (/(i.ns) = 0.83, n.s.).
140 M, P. LEITER

A similar analysis was carried out to determine if coping skills served a buffering function.
These analyses tested the hypothesis that the relationship between emotional exhaustion and
environmental stressors would be weaker for people with a wider range of coping skills than for
those with a smaller range of coping skills. No evidence was found of interaction effects in this
study. Emotional exhaustion was investigated in relation to the following interactions using this
procedure: conflict ^ control coping (/(i,i75) = 1.38, n.s.), confiict x escapist coping (/(l.ns) = 0.62.
n.s.), workload * control coping (/(i,i75) = 0.12. n.s.) and workload ^ escapist coping (/(i,i75) = 0.06,
n.s.). The analysis of interaction effects provide no evidence for a buffering effect of social support
or for a buffering effect of coping patterns in their relationships of environmental stressors and
burnout.

Organizational Stressors

Work Interpersonal
Overload Conflict

.29 .31

-.13 Emotional I on
Exhaustion I '

-.17
Depersonalization I
Cowcrker
Support

Skill
Utilization
A Personal
Accomplishment

-.40
Organizational
Supervisor Commitment
.22
StJpport

Figure 4, Results of LISREL analysis

 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 141

Discussion

The results of this study indicate that information regarding individuals' coping patterns
contributes to the prediction of burnout, particularly the emotional exhaustion and diminished
personal accomplishment aspects of the syndrome. Mental health workers who use cognitive and
action control strategies to address difficulties at work tended to be less exhausted and to have a
more positive assessment of their personal accomplishments. To a lesser degree, workers who used
escapist cognitive and action control strategies tended to experience greater levels of emotional
exhaustion. Secondly, the results provided support for important elements of a model of burnout,
although some specific relationships were not significant. Together, these results argue strongly
for the contribution of measures of coping patterns to predicting burnout, and provide a direction
for integrating theoretical developments from general stress and coping research into the
development of models of burnout.
Escapist coping appears to be a particularly ineffective means of avoiding burnout: If anything
it is associated with higher levels of exhaustion. The simple correlations included a relationship
between escapist coping and depersonalization, but it did not make a contribution to the overall
model. Apparently these relationships can be mediated through the strong path from emotional
exhaustion to depersonalization. Although Lazarus and Folkman (1984) point out the potential
virtue of escapist behaviors when one is faced with stressful situations for which there is no
possible solution, these behaviors do not appear effective at either alleviating exhaustion or
forestalling declines in workers' assessments of their accomplishments. The implicit assumption
underlying escapist coping — that no means for effective management of work-related problems
exists — may be the problem. Human service professionals generally want a meaningful
involvement in their worklife; to the extent that they assume that they lack any means of affecting
their worksetting, they are vulnerable to experiencing stress. Whereas a meaningful worklife is
incompatible with avoiding the worksetting, escape is incomplete and unsatisfying.
Control coping, in contrast, appears to be incompatible with burnout. To the extent that
workers employ control coping behaviors, they report lower scores on all three aspects of
burnout. Although the study did not establish causal links, the LISREL analysis is consistent with
the idea that emotional exhaustion is a function of demands, resources, and characteristic coping
patterns. As well, diminished personal accomplishment is a function of organizational supports
and coping patterns. These results suggest that control coping may function in distinct ways in
alleviating or preventing burnout. First, control coping may influence a worker's capacity to
endure stressful events, sufficiently to reduce the likelihood of a stress reaction (emotional
exhaustion). Secondly, the use of control coping cognitions or actions may enhance workers'
assessments of their accomplishments, when they are effective in their management of the
environment. Furthermore, merely attempting to address work-related problems in a manner
consistent with professional aspirations may be sufficient to enhance self appraisal.
Further progress toward integrating the Lazarus perspective into a model of burnout requires
identification of factors which differentiate between workers who frequently utilize one coping
pattern from those who do not. It is reasonable to propose a somewhat circular loop in which
infrequent use of control coping leads to increased burnout which in turn diminishes the
frequency with which a worker will use control coping. Additionally, workers' histories of success
with control coping and the degree of consistency of this approach with general beliefs regarding
the workplace may also be contributing factors.
142 M, P. LEITER

The Study provided further confirmation of the scale developed by Latack (1986) to measure
coping patterns. The factor analysis produced a two factor solution for 'difficulties with your job
responsibilities' which was quite similar to the cluster structure Latack reported for coping with
role ambiguity. A more precise definition of the problem situation to be considered in subsequent
uses of the measure may result in the item concerning delegation falling clearly into either the
escapist or control factor. Latack found that this item loaded clearly only in one of the three
stressor situations she examined, and otherwise it spilt between the two factors as in the present
study.
The findings in regard to organizational commitment are consistent with the overall model, but
they present difficulties for interpretation. The relationship of diminished personal
accomplishment with commitment and the other MBI subscales was much weaker than
anticipated. It appeared that shared relationships with the measure of skill utilization and coping
styles accounted for much of the relationship. To the extent that workers are fully developing their
skills, they would experience a sense of accomplishment, be more committed, and less exhausted.
The overall findings are consistent with the hypothesis that coping patterns affect the emotional
and cognitive aspects of burnout process rather than the commitment process. Further
longitudinal studies with intervention components (e.g. coping skills training, team building, etc.)
are necessary to examine this process in sufficient detail to permit causal interpretations.
In addition, to clarifying the role of coping patterns in the development of burnout, the study
provided confirmation for many aspects of the Leiter (1988b) model of burnout. The results of
this study are consistent with the view that the emotional exhaustion aspect of burnout is the
immediate response to a gap between environmental pressures and available resources, while
depersonalization is best considered as responses to emotional exhaustion and to the availability
of environmental supports. However, the results point toward the need for further development of
the role of organizational supports in the burnout model. It remains to be seen if the specific
pattern of relationships between supports and the MBI scales has an intrinsic, stable basis.
Measures which more thoroughly differentiate supports from one another would assist this line of
investigation, as would a more clearly articulated theory of the functioning of supports in
alleviating job stress. The negative relationship of skill utilization with emotional exhaustion is
consistent with the lack of supports functioning as a stressor (see Aneshensel and Stone, 1982).
The LISREL analysis provides a new and more complete perspective on the relationship of
personal accomplishment to the other two MBI subscales. Multiple regression analyses have
provided somewhat inconsistent findings for depersonalization and emotional exhaustion serving
as predictors of personal accomplishment (See Leiter, 1988; Leiter and Maslach, 1988; Maslach
and Jackson, 1986). When all three MBI subscales are analyzed simultaneously, as in this study,
the analysis rejects this proposition in favour of a model in which diminished accomplishment
shares common causes (skill utilization and coping styles) with the other two aspects of^ burnout.
Further studies are required before completely accepting this interpretation of events. It may be
that depersonahzation and emotional exhaustion do directly affect personal accomplishment, but
only after a substantial time interval, such that would only be apparent with longitudinal data.
The research setting is relevant in many ways to a wide variety of human service agencies. The
participants were confronting in their inpatient and outpatient treatment issues of professional
autonomy, demanding workloads, interpersonal conflict, and personal growth which are
fundamental concerns in many current human service facilities. The Halifax/Dartmouth area of
Nova Scotia is a city of modest size, but with a transportation system of sufficiently poor design
that many of the participants share the extra-mural occupational stressors of commuting
experienced by their colleagues in larger urban areas. In any case the MBI scores of this sample
were not different from those of the normative sample (Maslach and Jackson, 1986). It is expected
that these findings should have a fairly broad range of applicability.
 COPING STYLES AND BURNOUT 143

This Study has an important practical implication. The lack of differentiation between cognitive
and action coping items within each coping pattern suggests that simply training human service
workers to use more cognitive control coping techniques is unlikely to lead to major advances in
the control of burnout. Cognitive and action control coping appear to presume to some extent a
favourable environment, as well it should: An assertive approach to job-related problems in the
absence of a supportive relationship with one's supervisor and associated organizational resources
may only lead to additional stressful incidents. This idea is consistent with the argument presented
by Pearlin and Schooler (1978) and others (e.g. Shinn, Rosario, Merch and Chestnut, 1984) that
individual-level coping behaviors are generally ineffective at addressing most forms of
occupational stress. This analysis indicates that individual coping behaviors may be quite salient
to addressing occupational stressors, but only if these coping efforts are supported by colleagues
on the workgroup or departmental level. Further, both Latack's (1986) analysis and the data
presented here indicate that cognitive control strategies do not readily function independently of
action control strategies. One cannot reasonably hope to develop control-oriented patterns of
thinking about work-related problems without developing behaviors with control implications as
well. In short, we do not think as if we are in control when we know we are not.

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