Personality, anxiety and vulnerability to burnout among nurses: a comparative study Portugal/Spain

Introduction: Nowadays nurses execute their tasks in demanding and stressful contexts, where the stress accumulates and can trigger burnout. This one seems to be the result from the combination of organizational factors with individual vulnerability, in particular predisposition for anxiety and personality traits such as neuroticism. Objectives: This study aims, by comparing nurses from Portugal/Spain, to identify burnout levels and to analyse if personality and anxiety predict burnout. Methodology: This is a quantitative, exploratory, descriptive and transversal study, using a demographic/professional characterization questionnaire, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. After institutional authorizations, participated anonymously and volunteer, 337 Portuguese nurses and 309 Spanish nurses. Results: We found 55% of nurses without burnout, 35% with moderate burnout and 11% with high burnout, without differences between countries. However, the Portuguese nurses present significantly more exhaustion and less depersonalization, less anxiety trait, and more extroversion and Social Desirability, all with a moderate level. In Portugal, the age and professional experience correlate negatively with burnout, and anxiety predicts 32% of burnout. In Spain, anxiety explains 36% of burnout and personality traits only 2%. Discussion: These findings are consistent with studies in which anxiety is a vulnerability factor for burnout, but contradicted the influence of other personality traits, reinforcing the influence of organizational factors. Conclusion: The results are useful, in the field of occupational health, to develop organizational strategies that enhance individual characteristics of stress management, which, lately, have been applied using Mindfulness among nurses and nursing students.