SEM using PLS approach to assess workers' burnout state

In several areas, namely in Health, Education and Services in general, it is common to find people complaining that they are exposed to excessive and prolonged stress at their workplace. This situation might lead them to burnout state which, according to some experts, is characterized by symptoms as emotional and physical exhaustion. To assess this state in a Portuguese company workers, an adapted version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), with variables expressed in a Likert-type scale, was applied. Based on the specialized literature and authors' experience a Structural Equation Model was proposed. Based on the available dataset the estimated model was obtained after applying the Partial Least Squares approach and a bootstrap nonparametric procedure was used, namely to estimate the significance of the path coefficients. As main results, the latent construct of "stress" is seen as a mediator predictor of "burnout", as expected, and the latent constructs of "justice" and "quantitative demands" are both predictors of "stress" and indirect predictors of the latent construct of "burnout". The occupational health experts consider these results as an important tool to understand the burnout state of such workers.