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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• occupational stress,burnout,aberrant driver behaviors,professional drivers

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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• mesleki stres,tükenmişlik,sapkın sürücü davranışları,profesyonel sürücüler

Kaynakça

1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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
8. 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.

9. 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
10. 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
11. 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
12. 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.
13. 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
14. Elo, A. L., Leppänen, A., Lindström, K. ve Ropponen, T. (1992). OSQ, Occupational Stress Questionnaire – User’s instructions. Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
15. 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.
16. 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).
17. 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).
18. 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.
19. Leka, S., Griffiths, A. ve Cox, T. (2013). Protecting workers’ health series No. 3: Work organization and stress [Booklet]. Geneva: World Health Organization.
20. 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
21. 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.
22. 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
23. 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
24. Näätänen, P., Aro, A., Matthiesen, S. B. ve Salmela-Aro, K. (2003). Bergen Burnout Indicator 15. Helsinki: Edita Publishing Oy.
25. 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
26. 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
27. 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
28. 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
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. Schouteten, R. (2017). Predicting absenteeism: Screening for work ability or burnout. Occupational Medicine, 67, 52–57. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqw161
33. 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.
34. 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
35. 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.
36. 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
37. Westerman, S. J. ve Haigney, D. (2000). Individual differences in driver stress, error and violation. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 981–998.
38. World Health Organization. (2007). International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD 10). Geneva: World Health Organization.