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Symptoms of burnout—in some cases severe—are common among small-town mayors in France, reports a study in the November issue of the
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Mayors and other elected representatives may show a mixed pattern of "frenetic and impediment" burnout subtypes, stemming from the demands and frustrations of their duties, according to the new research by Francois-Xavier Lesage MD, PhD, of Universite de Montpellier and colleagues.
The researchers sent an online survey including a brief burnout questionnaire (the Burnout Measure short version) to about 12,000 members of a French rural mayors' association. Responses from 900 mayors were analyzed to assess the risk and specific features of burnout. Three-fourths of mayors lived in areas with less than 1,000 participants.
Nearly one-third of mayors (31.4%) reported significant burnout symptoms, scoring four or higher on the ten-point burnout scale. Severe burnout, with scores of 5.5 or higher, was present in 3.48% of mayors. Female mayors and those who had additional jobs besides their mayoral duties were at higher risk of burnout.
Responses suggested two distinct patterns of burnout: a "frenetic" syndrome, characterized by work overload, high ambition, and deep emotional involvement; and an "impediment syndrome," associated with feelings of powerlessness and being trapped.
"This dual burnout profile suggests that mayors experience both high personal investment in their duties and substantial frustration due to perceived external barriers such as administrative bureaucracy and political limitations," the researchers write. They note that the findings are similar to studies of burnout in small business owners, although feelings of powerlessness appear more prominent among mayors.
Few previous studies have focused on burnout among elected officials. "We believe that this work can arouse the interest of the scientific community and initiate further research into the health of elected representatives," Dr. Lesage comments.
The researchers discuss the implications for preventing burnout among mayors, emphasizing the need to target both work overload and frustration. They also call for further studies of environmental and organizational factors contributing to mayoral burnout, as well as recovery strategies to reduce burnout symptoms.