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Social Psychology and Society
2026. Vol. 17, no. 1, 166–182
doi:10.17759/sps.2026170110
ISSN: 2221-1527 / 2311-7052 (online)

The relevance index of the professional burnout topic

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Occupational burnout is a significant socio-economic problem that requires regular monitoring. The questionnaires traditionally used for the measurement of burnout are labour-intensive and irregular, making them unsuitable for macro-level monitoring. By analogy with media-based indices in other fields, this study treats the intensity of burnout mentions as an indicator of the its public salience, with the aim of contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.
Objective. The objective is to develop and test a media-based index of burnout salience in Russian news, and to assess its applicability for social monitoring and interregional comparisons.
Methods and materials. Data were obtained from the Medialogia analytics system, which covers approximately 105000 media outlets. The sample spans 2015–2025 and comprises over 30000 publications. To test the robustness of the index, alternative indices are constructed: one based on top outlets and one restricted to psychology-related news. Additionally, we conduct a regional analysis (normalised by population) and perform topic modelling of headlines using BERTopic.
Results. During the study period, the index increased steadily, going beyond its initial level by more than 100 times by 2025. Peaks were observed in July 2019, April and December 2021, and September–November 2024. External validation shows strong agreement with user interest and alternative index specifications. We identified leading regions based on the intensity of mentions and thematic clusters of coverage.
Conclusions. The index is suitable for rapid social monitoring and interregional comparisons, and is based on a transparent, scalable methodology. This paper outlines potential avenues for further use by researchers, practitioners and public authorities.

General Information

Keywords: professional burnout, media index, mass media, monitoring of public interest, thematic modeling, regional analysis, psychological well-being, agenda-setting theory

Journal rubric: Methodological Tools

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2026170110

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project number 25-18-01037, https://rscf.ru/project/25-18-01037/.

Received 09.09.2025

Revised 21.11.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Zavertiaeva, M.A., Naidenova, I.N., Kireecheva, A.D. (2026). The relevance index of the professional burnout topic. Social Psychology and Society, 17(1), 166–182. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2026170110

© Zavertiaeva M.A., Naidenova I.N., Kireecheva A.D., 2026

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Marina A. Zavertiaeva, Candidate of Science (Economics), PhD, Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance, Senior Research Fellow, International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy, HSE University, Perm, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9866-9137, e-mail: moskolkova@hse.ru

Iuliia N. Naidenova, Candidate of Science (Economics), Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance, Deputy Head of International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy, HSE University, Perm, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5838-1331, e-mail: yunaydenova@hse.ru

Anastasiia . Kireecheva, Research Assistant, International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy, HSE University, Perm, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7373-8406, e-mail: adkireecheva@hse.ru

Contribution of the authors

Marina A. Zavertiaeva — research ideas; index methodology, literature review preparation, writing introduction and conclusion, monitoring research implementation.
Iuliia N. Naidenova — research ideas; index methodology, literature review preparation, writing introduction and conclusion, monitoring research implementation.
Anastasiia D. Kireecheva — data collection; calculation of indices; drafting the methodology and results sections; manuscript formatting.
All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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