The buffering effect of secure base leadership on the relationship between emotional demands and burnout: A multilevel study among military officer cadets

Abstract

This study examined the association between Secure Base Leadership (SBL) and burnout among 398 officer cadets at the Spanish Army's General Military Academy in Zaragoza. Grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, this research examines both the direct and moderating effects of SBL on the relationship between emotional demands and burnout within a high-stress military training environment. Cadets were organized into 14 sections, each led by a designated supervisor. Using multilevel modeling, the findings reveal that at the individual level (Level 1), higher emotional demands are significantly associated with increased burnout. At the team level (Level 2), cadets who perceive their leaders as a secure base report lower levels of burnout, indicating that SBL functions as a key job resource that mitigates stress-related outcomes. Furthermore, results demonstrate a significant cross-level interaction, whereby SBL moderates the relationship between emotional demands and burnout, attenuating the negative impact of high emotional demands on cadet well-being. These findings extend the JD-R framework by providing empirical evidence of the buffering role of secure base leadership in high-strain educational and occupational settings. The study underscores the critical role of leadership in fostering psychological resilience and suggests practical implications for the development of leadership training programs in military academies aimed at enhancing cadets' capacity to cope with occupational stressors.