Are Australian teachers burned-out or depressed? A confirmatory factor analytic study involving the Occupational Depression Inventory

There is mounting evidence that burnout problematically overlaps with depression. However, the generalizability of this finding remains debated. This study examined the burnout-depression distinction based on a recently developed measure of work-attributed depressive symptoms—the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI). We relied on a sample of 891 Australian teachers. The ODI was employed to assess work-attributed depressive symptoms. The Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) were employed to assess burnout symptoms. The SMBM assesses burnout as a syndrome combining physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion. The OLBI assesses burnout as a syndrome of exhaustion and disengagement. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the factors underlying burnout's components correlated more highly with the Occupational Depression factor than with each other, calling into question the syndromal unity of burnout. Moreover, the factors underlying burnout's components and the Occupational Depression factor were reflective of a common higher-order factor. Our findings are consistent with the view that burnout symptoms are part of a depressive syndrome and do not reflect a unique or distinct entity. Conducted in the Australian context, this study strengthens the generalizability of the finding that burnout problematically overlaps with depression. Given the profound problems affecting the burnout construct, we recommend a paradigm shift from burnout to occupational depression. Such a shift raises the prospects of more reliably and validly assessing severity and prevalence of job-related distress and, consequently, of reaching more psychologically meaningful and productive conclusions regarding treatment, prevention, and public health decision-making. •We investigated the overlap of burnout with depression within the Australian context.•We examined burnout-depression overlap using the Occupational Depression Inventory.•We found burnout symptoms to be part of a depressive syndrome.•Burnout does not constitute a unique or distinct entity.•A paradigm shift from burnout to occupational depression is warranted.