Are socio-demographic factors associated to burnout syndrome in police officers? A correlational meta-analysis.

Aguayo, Raimundo; Vargas, Cristina; Cañadas, Gustavo R; De la Fuente, Emilia I

doi:10.6018/analesps.33.2.260391

Cited by 52Stress and Burnout ResearchOccupational Health and BurnoutEmotional Labor in Professions

Are socio-demographic factors associated to burnout syndrome in police officers? A correlational meta-analysis.

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Aguayo, Raimundo, Vargas, Cristina, Cañadas, Gustavo R, De la Fuente, Emilia I·2017·Anales de Psicología

DOI 10.6018/analesps.33.2.260391

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Abstract

Burnout syndrome is considered a long term stress reaction which is seen primarily among professionals who work face-to-face with other people. Socio-demographic characteristics have been suggested as risk factors in the development of burnout, although empirical studies have yield contradictory results. The objective of the present study is to conduct a meta-analytic review of four socio-demographic factors (age, sex, marital status, and number of children) that may be correlated to burnout in police officers. These professionals have been considered a high-risk occupational group to suffer burnout due to specific characteristics of their job. We collected 43 empirical studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria: 23 on age, 32 on sex, 9 on marital status, and 4 on number of children. The bivariate correlation coefficient was used as the effect size measure. The results show that all the average effect were small, and the majority of them were not statistically significant. We can conclude that sex and age are factors to discard in the development of the burnout syndrome in police officers. We found that many studies did not report enough statistical information to estimate effect sizes. This systematic lack of information is likely to contribute finding contradictory results.Burnout syndrome is considered a long term stress reaction which is seen primarily among professionals who work face-to-face with other people. Socio-demographic characteristics have been suggested as risk factors in the development of burnout, although empirical studies have yield contradictory results. The objective of the present study is to conduct a meta-analytic review of four socio-demographic factors (age, sex, marital status, and number of children) that may be correlated to burnout in police officers. These professionals have been considered a high-risk occupational group to suffer burnout due to specific characteristics of their job. We collected 43 empirical studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria: 23 on age, 32 on sex, 9 on marital status, and 4 on number of children. The bivariate correlation coefficient was used as the effect size measure. The results show that all the average effect were small, and the majority of them were not statistically significant. We can conclude that sex and age are factors to discard in the development of the burnout syndrome in police officers. We found that many studies did not report enough statistical information to estimate effect sizes. This systematic lack of information is likely to contribute finding contradictory results.

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A meta-analytical study revealed that age does not appear to have a significant relationship with burnout.
“A review conducted with police officers (Galanis et al., 2021) had previously reported that stress increased with age, although a meta-analytical study revealed that age does not appear to have a significant relationship with burnout (Aguayo et al., 2017).”
From Psychosocial risk and protective factors associated with burnout in police officers: A systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as Aguayo et al., 2017
The Discussion concludes that age does not appear to be a risk factor for burnout in police officers, supporting the broad point. But the Distribution of effect sizes reports a small, statistically significant correlation between age and depersonalization, a burnout dimension. The claim is therefore too broad if “significant relationship” means statistical significance. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
The meta-analysis of Aguayo et al. (2017) found that sociodemographic factors can be associated with police officers' burnout.
“It is worth noting that the meta-analysis of Aguayo et al. (2017) found that sociodemographic factors can be associated with police officers’ burnout.”
From Burnout and Stress Measurement in Police Officers: Literature Review and a Study With the Operational Police Stress Questionnaire (2020) · cites this paper as Aguayo et al., 2017

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Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement
PRISMA-P Group, Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., & Stewart, L. A. (2015) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/2046-4053-4-1 · Cited by 26,223 · see citing works
The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory: A new tool for the assessment of burnout
Kristensen, T. S., Borritz, M., Villadsen, E., & Christensen, K. B. (2005) · Work & Stress · doi:10.1080/02678370500297720 · Cited by 3,136 · see citing works
Un sistema de clasificación de los diseños de investigación en psicología
Ato, M., López-García, J. J., & Benavente, A. (2013) · Anales de Psicología · doi:10.6018/analesps.29.3.178511 · Cited by 2,254 · see citing works
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Authors: Aguayo, R., Vargas, C., Cañadas, G. R., & De la Fuente, E. I.
Affiliations: Universitat de València (ES)
Universidad de Granada (ES)
ORCID: Vargas, Cristina
Cañadas, Gustavo R
Venue: Anales de Psicología
Publisher: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia
Published: 2017-03-31
Volume: 33
Issue: 2
Pages: 383
ISSN: 0212-9728 (ISSN-L)
1695-2294
DOI: 10.6018/analesps.33.2.260391
OpenAlex: W2604296412
Cited by: 52
References: 5
Citations by year: 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6
FWCI: 6.66
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: diamond
doi.org
Licence: cc-by-sa
revistas.um.es/analesps/about/submissions#copyrightNotice (unspecified)
Locations: Anales de Psicología (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
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Hispana (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) (submittedVersion)
Repository of Digital Objects for Teaching Research and Culture (University of Valencia) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Scientific Electronic library online (Sciences Carlos III Health Institute) (submittedVersion)
Funders: Junta de Andalucía (P11HUM-7771)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Emotional Labor in Professions
Keywords: burnout, police officers, sociodemographic factors, age, sex differences, marital status, number of children, occupational stress, burnout risk factors

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Are socio-demographic factors associated to burnout syndrome in police officers? A correlational meta-analysis.

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