SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SENSE OF CONTROL AS MODERATORS OF THE STRESS BURNOUT RELATIONSHIP IN MILITARY CAREERS

This study examined the interrelationships among job stress, burnout, social support (from work and family sources), and sense of control. P articipants in the study were 101 male career officers in the Israeli armed forces. The study tested an ''enhancement model'' proposing firs t and second order relationships between social support and sense of c ontrol in their effects on stress, on burnout, and on the stress-burno ut relationship. Analyses corroborated previous studies in that job st ress was found to be positively related to burnout, whereas sense of c ontrol and work support were inversely related to burnout. In addition , sense of control moderated the relationship between stress and burno ut. The enhancement model was only partly confirmed. Work support and sense of control enhanced each other in alleviating job stress but not burnout. No enhancing effect was found for the support provided by fa mily members regarding work problems. The role played by social suppor t and sense of control in explaining the dynamics of job stress, burno ut, and their relationship is discussed.