Interpersonal strain at work: A new burnout facet relevant for the health of hospital staff

•ISW confirms its validity and distinctiveness from MBI exhaustion and cynicism.•ISW mediates the relationship between emotional dissonance and health symptoms.•ISW and exhaustion, but not cynicism, are associated with hospital staff health symptoms.

Interpersonal strain was recently proposed as a new dimension related to burnout corresponding to the disengagement reaction in work relationships (Borgogni, Consiglio, Alessandri, & Schaufeli, 2012). The study, framed within the Conservation of Resources Model, investigates the potential mediating role of interpersonal strain (along with exhaustion and cynicism) between emotional dissonance and health symptoms among hospital staff. Structural equation modeling on 347 hospital professionals (56% nurses, 16% physicians and 28% other staff) revealed that interpersonal strain is strongly associated with emotional dissonance and health symptoms and that emotional dissonance is indirectly associated with health symptoms through interpersonal strain and exhaustion, but not through cynicism.