Multivariate analysis of burnout syndrome in Latin-American priests.

BACKGROUND Burnout syndrome is a highly prevalent disorder in a wide range of professional groups, and is associated with substantial psychophysiological alterations. Nevertheless, this syndrome has not been analyzed in depth among the clergy, a group which fulfils a fundamental social function and has to deal with numerous stressors that increase the risk of burnout onset. METHOD In the present study, the authors assessed 881 Catholic priests from Latin America. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-22, the General Health Questionnaire-28 and the CAGE were applied; we also recorded the priests' rates of cigarette-smoking. Specific cut-off points were set for burnout syndrome in priests. RESULTS The original factor structures of the questionnaires are confirmed in the clerical sample, and the reliability is adequate. As regards the dimensions of the syndrome as a function of the countries studied, no statistically significant differences were found, except for the exhaustion dimension. CONCLUSIONS The authors established the typology that defines the relevance and effect of each dimension, as well as its prevalence in this group, with a figure of 25.39%. Furthermore, burnout shows a clear relationship with general health and may be associated with addiction to substances such as alcohol or tobacco.