Occupational burnout in the UK film and television industry: A cross-sectional survey of mental health, job quality, perceived stigma, and sexual harassment
- 1Goldsmiths University of London
Abstract
Recent industry surveys have reported widespread concern about mental health, working conditions, and harassment in the UK film and television industry, but no peer-reviewed empirical study has examined the determinants of occupational burnout in this workforce. The present study tested whether physical health, mental wellbeing, perceived public stigma, intrinsic job quality, and sexual harassment exposure predict burnout in industry professionals. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 415 individuals across more than 100 job titles, with 286 also completing an optional harassment module. Mental wellbeing sat well below population norms, with 68% scoring in the range indicative of probable depressive symptoms and 82% in the high-exhaustion range on the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey. Mental wellbeing and intrinsic job quality were the strongest predictors of burnout (R{superscript 2} = .56), with meaningfulness accounting for most of the job-quality effect. Working hours independently predicted emotional exhaustion. Harassment exposure was associated with burnout in women but not men, approximately 30% mediated by mental wellbeing; sexist behaviour directly predicted exhaustion in women. Workers with a disability reported higher stigma. Burnout was strongly associated with intent to leave, and the findings collectively indicate an industry-wide occupational health concern requiring structural rather than individual-level intervention.
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BibTeX
@misc{caldwell2026occupational,
title = {{Occupational burnout in the UK film and television industry: A cross-sectional survey of mental health, job quality, perceived stigma, and sexual harassment}},
author = {M. S. Caldwell and R. Chamberlain and D. Rippon},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.15.26365611},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.15.26365611v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Occupational burnout in the UK film and television industry: A cross-sectional survey of mental health, job quality, perceived stigma, and sexual harassment
AU - M. S. Caldwell
AU - R. Chamberlain
AU - D. Rippon
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.15.26365611
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.15.26365611v1
AB - Recent industry surveys have reported widespread concern about mental health, working conditions, and harassment in the UK film and television industry, but no peer-reviewed empirical study has examined the determinants of occupational burnout in this workforce. The present study tested whether physical health, mental wellbeing, perceived public stigma, intrinsic job quality, and sexual harassment exposure predict burnout in industry professionals. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 415 individuals across more than 100 job titles, with 286 also completing an optional harassment module. Mental wellbeing sat well below population norms, with 68% scoring in the range indicative of probable depressive symptoms and 82% in the high-exhaustion range on the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey. Mental wellbeing and intrinsic job quality were the strongest predictors of burnout (R{superscript 2} = .56), with meaningfulness accounting for most of the job-quality effect. Working hours independently predicted emotional exhaustion. Harassment exposure was associated with burnout in women but not men, approximately 30% mediated by mental wellbeing; sexist behaviour directly predicted exhaustion in women. Workers with a disability reported higher stigma. Burnout was strongly associated with intent to leave, and the findings collectively indicate an industry-wide occupational health concern requiring structural rather than individual-level intervention.
ER -