THE DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY OF BURNOUT AND DEPRESSION - A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYTIC STUDY

Health care workers (N 307) completed measures of burnout and depres sion as part of a study of personal and occupational sources of distre ss. A confirmatory factor analysis provided support for differentiatin g burnout and depression. The analysis confirmed the three-factor stru cture of the Maslach Burnout Inventory and s multiple factor structure for depression measures. The analysis also provided support for the e xistence of second-order factors of burnout and depression that accoun ted for the correlations among the primary factors within each syndrom e. The implications of study for the construct validity of burnout and depression are discussed.