Coping flexibility and strategy use predict burnout: A two-week longitudinal study

Burnout is a prevalent and costly work-related condition characterized by four symptom dimensions: cognitive impairment, emotional impairment, mental distance and exhaustion. Although coping, coping flexibility, and cognitive flexibility have been linked to burnout, their unique contributions to its dimensions remain unclear. This longitudinal study used regression analyses to test whether coping, coping flexibility, and cognitive flexibility predict dimensions of burnout two weeks later, adjusting for covariates and baseline burnout. Participants were 337 Australian adults (62% women), aged 18-35, who were working or studying at least three days per week. Evaluation coping flexibility predicted lower cognitive impairment (B = -0.28, p = .003), and adaptive coping flexibility predicted greater exhaustion (B = 0.13, p = .458). Substance use as a coping strategy predicted greater emotional impairment (B = 0.31, p = .040) and behavioral disengagement as a coping strategy predicted greater mental distance (B = 0.26, p = .041) and exhaustion (B = 0.41, p < .001). Cognitive flexibility did not predict dimensions of burnout. Findings indicate that burnout risk is influenced by coping strategy use and coping flexibility, highlighting these as intervention targets.