Relationship between resilience, stress and burnout among civil servants in Beijing, China: Mediating and moderating effect analysis

This study aimed to explore the mediating and moderating effect in the relationship between resilience, stress and burnout among civil servants of Beijing, China. A cross-sectional study was conducted among civil servants in Beijing. Totally 541 civil servants completed a self-report questionnaire including three scales measuring civil servants' resilience, stress and burnout. The data were analyzed with correlation, multiple regression and structural equation modeling. The results revealed that work stress rather than life and health stress could significantly predict burnout. Resilience played a partial mediating role between work stress and burnout, that is, work stress had both a direct and an indirect, via resilience, impact on burnout. Work stress played a partial mediating role between resilience and burnout, thus, resilience could prevent the development of burnout by relieving work stress, in addition to directly relieving it. Moreover, resilience was a moderator between work stress and burnout, and it could serve as a buffer to mitigate the adverse effects of work stress. These results suggest that resilience could be a positive personality trait for alleviating or eliminating work stress and combating burnout of civil servants of Beijing. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.