Facial electrodermal potentials at rest state as objective criteria of emotional burnout severity

The skin potential level (SPL) of facial biologically active zones (BAZ) reflects the level of background brain activation and the level of mental stress. Emotional burnout syndrome is a reaction to everyday stress in interpersonal communication that includes functional changes in brain activity and corresponding dysfunctions of the autonomic nervous system. The aim of the study was to detect the changes of SPL in symmetric biologically active zones of face skin in the resting state depending on the level of emotional burnout. 31 healthy volunteers (women and men) - first-third year students (Mage= 19.07, SD = 1.91 years, from 17 to 23 years) were recruited from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Skin potential level was recorded by nonpolarizable silver electrodes from the symmetric biologically active zones of face skin with the palm surface as a reference area. To detect the severity of burnout we used V. Boyko's “Syndrome of Emotional Burnout” questionary. An inverse correlation was found between the formation of emotional burnout and the skin potential level in the right periotic BAZ (parotid BAZ). It detected links between the development of the Resistance stage of burnout and background SPL in the right and left frontal BAZ. Our data indicate that emotional exhaustion during the development of burnout, accompanied by a change in the background activity of brain structures and the level of psychic tension, varies emotionality in anticipation of emotionally significant events, which reduces the adaptive abilities and efficiency of future activities. It indicates that electrodermal potentials can serve as objective criteria for the formation of emotional burnout.