The crossover of burnout and its relation to partner health

Two studies among medical residents and teachers in the Netherlands and Greece tested the hypothesis that burnout may transfer from employees to their intimate partners at home and indirectly influence the partner's health. Study 1 included a general index of self-rated health, whereas, Study 2 included a detailed measure of depression. Results show that burnout crosses over and that partner burnout is related to health (negative) and depression (positive). Moreover, both studies supported the mediating role of partner burnout in the relationship between employee burnout and partner health/depression. Additionally, results were similar when partner burnout was used as the predictor variable of medical residents' and teachers' health through their burnout. These findings are discussed in light of the recently proposed spillover-crossover model.