Mediating Role of Burnout Level in the Relationship between Occupational Stress and Aberrant Driver Behaviors among Professional Drivers

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 13, 30.04.2018

Gizem Fındık Timo Lajunen Türker Özkan

Abstract

Work stress is
defined as a reaction, due to mismatch between the requirements of the job and
the qualifications of employees, that challenge coping abilities of employees.
Burnout is one of the negative consequences that may emerge as a result of
prolonged exposure to work stress. Occupational stress and burnout may lead to
several negative individual and organizational outcomes among professional
drivers, in addition to having the potential to influence driver behaviors. The
purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationship between
occupational stress, burnout, aberrant driver behaviors and accidents among
professional drivers. For this purpose, data were collected from 120 male
professional drivers. The participants were asked to answer demographic and
stress questions, fill out Bergen Burnout Inventory-15 and Driver Behavior
Questionnaire. Findings suggest that total burnout scores have an indirect
effect on the relationship between occupational stress and aberrant driver
behaviors. Furthermore, when those professional drivers who were involved in at
least 1 accident and those who were not involved in any accidents are compared,
it was found that drivers who were involved in accidents had lower exhaustive
fatigue scores; higher frequencies of ordinary violations, errors, and lapses,
as compared to those who were not. When considered from road safety framework,
findings show that negative consequences of stress may extend beyond the
individual and influence other road users as well. For this reason, we suggest
that occupational stressors of professional drivers are defined and periodic
meetings as well as health check-ups are done.

Keywords

occupational stress, burnout, aberrant driver behaviors, professional drivers

Profesyonel Sürücülerde Mesleki Stres ve Sapkın Sürücü Davranışları İlişkisinde Tükenmişlik Seviyesinin Aracı Rolü

Abstract

İş kaynaklı stres, işin gerektirdikleriyle çalışanların sahip oldukları
özellikler arasındaki uyumsuzluğa verilen, çalışanların başa çıkma becerilerini
zorlayan bir tepki olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Tükenmişlik ise iş kaynaklı strese
uzun süre maruz kalma sonucunda oluşabilecek olumsuzluklardan biridir. Mesleki
stres ve tükenmişlik profesyonel sürücülerde birtakım olumsuz bireysel ve
kurumsal sonuçlara yol açabileceği gibi, sürücü davranışlarını da etkileme
potansiyeline sahiptir. Mevcut çalışmanın amacı, profesyonel sürücüler arasında
mesleki stres, tükenmişlik, sapkın sürücü davranışları ve trafik kazaları
arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaktır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda 120 erkek profesyonel
sürücüden veri toplanmıştır. Katılımcılardan demografik soruları ve mesleki stres
sorusunu cevaplamaları, Bergen Tükenmişlik Göstergesi-15’i (BTG-15) ve Sürücü
Davranışları Anketi’ni (SDA) doldurmaları istenmiştir. Bulgular göstermektedir
ki, toplam tükenmişlik seviyesi mesleki stres ile sapkın sürücü davranışları
arasındaki ilişkide dolaylı etkiye sahiptir. Ayrıca, son 5 yılda en az 1 kazaya
karışan ve hiç kazaya karışmayan profesyonel sürücüler karşılaştırıldığında,
kazaya karışan sürücülerin karışmayanlara kıyasla yorgunluk seviyelerinin daha
düşük olduğu; sıradan ihlal, ihmal ve hata sıklıklarının ise daha fazla olduğu
bulunmuştur. Yol güvenliği bakımından ele alındığında mevcut çalışmanın
sonuçları, stresin etkisinin bireyin ötesinde diğer yol kullanıcılarını da
tehdit edebileceğini göstermektedir. Bu nedenle, profesyonel sürücülerin
mesleki stres etmenlerinin belirlenmesi ve periyodik toplantılar ile kapsamlı
sağlık kontrollerinin yapılması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

mesleki stres, tükenmişlik, sapkın sürücü davranışları, profesyonel sürücüler

References

• Cartwright, S., Cooper, C. L. ve Barron, A. (1996). The company car driver; occupational stress as a predictor of motor vehicle accident involvement. Human Relations, 49(2), 195–208.
• Chen, C. F. ve Kao, Y. L. (2013). The connection between the hassles-burnout relationship, as moderated by coping, and aberrant behaviors and health problems among bus drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 53, 105–111. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2013.01.004
• Chung, Y. S. ve Wu, H. L. (2013a). Stress, strain, and health outcomes of occupational drivers: An application of the effort reward imbalance model on Taiwanese public transport drivers. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 19, 97–107. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2013.03.002
• Chung, Y. S. ve Wu, H. L. (2013b). Effect of burnout on accident involvement in occupational drivers. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2388, 1–9. doi: 10.3141/2388-01
• Cordazzo, S. T. D., Scialfa, C. T., Bubric, K. ve Ross, R. J. (2014). The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire: A North American analysis. Journal of Safety Research, 50, 99–107.
• Couto, M. T. ve Lawoko, S. (2011). Burnout, workplace violence and social support among drivers and conductors in the road passenger transport sector in Maputo City, Mozambique. Journal of Occupational Health, 53, 214–221.
• Cunradi, C. B., Chen, M. J. ve Lipton, R. (2009). Association of occupational and substance use factors with burnout among urban transit operators. Journal of Urban Health, 86(4), 562–570. doi:10.1007/s11524-009-9349-4
• Cunradi, C. B., Greiner, B. A., Ragland, D. R. ve Fisher, J. M. (2003). Burnout and alcohol problems among urban transit operators in San Francisco. Addictive Behaviors, 28, 91–109.
• Cunradi, C. B., Greiner, B. A., Ragland, D. R. ve Fisher, J. (2005). Alcohol, stress-related factors, and short-term absenteeism among urban transit operators. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 82(1), 43–57. doi:10.1093/jurban/jti007
• de Valck, E., Smeekens, L. ve Vantrappen, L. (2015). Periodic psychological examination of train drivers’ fitness in Belgium: Deficits observed and efficacy of the screening procedure. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 0(0), 1–8. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000000384
• de Winter, J. C. F. ve Dodou, D. (2010). The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as a predictor of accidents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Safety Research, 41, 463–470. doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2010.10.007
• Elander, J., West, R. ve French, D. (1993). Behavioral correlates of individual differences in road-traffic crash risk: An examination of methods and findings. Psychological Bulletin, 113(2), 279–294.
• Elo, A. L., Leppänen, A. ve Jahkola, A. (2003). Validity of a single-item measure of stress symptoms. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 29(6), 444–451. doi:10.5271/sjweh.752
• Elo, A. L., Leppänen, A., Lindström, K. ve Ropponen, T. (1992). OSQ, Occupational Stress Questionnaire – User’s instructions. Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
• Guého, L., Granié, M. A. ve Abric, J. C. (2014). French validation of a new version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) for drivers of all ages and level of experiences. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 63, 41–48.
• Lajunen, T. ve Özkan, T. (2004). Culture, safety culture, and traffic safety in Turkey and Europe (Report No: SBB-3023). Ankara: The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).
• Lajunen, T. ve Özkan, T. (2008). Türkiye’deki yaşlı profesyonel sürücülerin araç kullanma becerilerinin değerlendirilmesi (Report No: 103K017). Ankara: The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).
• Lawton, R., Parker, D., Manstead, A. S. R. ve Stradling, S. G. (1997). The role of affect in predicting social behaviors: The case of road traffic violations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27(14), 1258–1276.
• Leka, S., Griffiths, A. ve Cox, T. (2013). Protecting workers’ health series No. 3: Work organization and stress [Booklet]. Geneva: World Health Organization.
• Littman, A. J., White, E., Satia, J. A., Bowen, D. J. ve Kristal, A. R. (2006). Reliability and validity of 2 single-item measures of psychosocial stress. Epidemiology, 17(4), 398–403. doi:10.1097/01.ede.0000219721.89552.51
• Maslać, M., Antić, B., Peŝić, D. ve Milutinović, N. (2017). Behaviours of professional drivers: Validation of the DBQ for drivers who transport dangerous goods in Serbia. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 50, 80–88.
• Mohamed, D. ve Lotfi, B. (2015). Dimensions of aberrant driving behaviours in Tunisia: Identifying the relation between Driver Behaviour Questionnaire results and accident data. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 1–9. doi:10.1080/17457300.2015.1061559
• Nahrgang, J. D., Morgeson, F. P. ve Hofmann, D. A. (2011). Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 71–94. doi:10.1037/a0021484
• Näätänen, P., Aro, A., Matthiesen, S. B. ve Salmela-Aro, K. (2003). Bergen Burnout Indicator 15. Helsinki: Edita Publishing Oy.
• Öz, B., Özkan, T. ve Lajunen, T. (2010). An investigation of the relationship between organizational climate and professional drivers’ behaviours. Safety Science, 48, 1484–1489. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2010.07.009
• Öz, B., Özkan, T. ve Lajunen, T. (2013). An investigation of professional drivers: Organizational safety climate, driver behaviours and performance. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 16, 81–91. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2012.08.005
• Öz, B., Özkan, T. ve Lajunen, T. (2014). Trip-focused organizational safety climate: Investigating the relationships with errors, violations and positive driver behaviours in professional driving. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 26, 361–369. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2014.03.004
• Płatek, A. E., Szymański, F. M., Filipiak, K. J., Ozierański, K., Kotkowski, M., … ve Opolski, G. (2016). Prevalence of depressive disorders in professional drivers – epidemiologic subanalysis of the RACER study. Psychiatria Polska, 50(4), 859–871. doi:10.12740/PP/44395
• Preacher, K. J. ve Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.
• Reason, J., Manstead, A., Stradling, S., Baxter, J. ve Campbell, K. (1990). Errors and violations on the roads: A real distinction? Ergonomics, 33, 1315–1332.
• Rowland, B., Wishart, D. E., Davey, J. ve Freeman, J. E. (2007). The influence of occupational driver stress on work-related road safety: An exploratory review. Journal of Occupational Health and Safety – Australia and New Zealand, 23(5), 459–468.
• Schouteten, R. (2017). Predicting absenteeism: Screening for work ability or burnout. Occupational Medicine, 67, 52–57. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqw161
• Shirom, A. (2010). Employee burnout and health: Current knowledge and future research paths. In J. Houdmont & S. Leka (Eds.), Contemporary Occupational Health Psychology (pp. 59–76). Nottingham: Nottingham University Press.
• Sucha, M., Sramkova, L. ve Risser, R. (2014). The Manchester driver behaviour questionnaire: Self-reports of aberrant behaviour among Czech drivers. European Transport Research Review, 6, 493–502. doi:10.1007/s12544-014-0147-z
• Useche, S. A., Ortiz, V. G. ve Cendales, B. E. (2017). Stress-related psychosocial factors at work, fatigue, and risky driving behavior in bus rapid transport (BRT) drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 104, 106–114.
• van der Linden, D., Keijsers, G. P. J., Eling, P. ve van Schaijk, R. (2005). Work stress and attentional difficulties: An initial study on burnout and cognitive failures. Work & Stress, 19(1), 23–36. doi:10.1080/02678370500065275
• Westerman, S. J. ve Haigney, D. (2000). Individual differences in driver stress, error and violation. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 981–998.
• World Health Organization. (2007). International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD 10). Geneva: World Health Organization.