Science University Research Symposium (SURS)
Academic and Psychological Factors Associated with Academic Burnout in Emerging Adults
Publication Date
11-15-2023
College
Sciences and Mathematics, College of
Department
Psychological Science, Department of
SURS Faculty Advisor
Abigail Heller, PhD
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Academic burnout has a significant impact on psychological distress in students (e.g. anxiety, depression; Koutsimani et al., 2019). Loneliness and parental expectations have also been found to increase burnout among students (Luo et al., 2016; Stoliker & Lafreniere, 2015). Additionally, there is an inverse relationship between impostorism (i.e., feeling like a fraud; Leary et al., 2000) and self-efficacy (Clance & Imes, 1978), but this has not been studied in an academic context in a global sample. This study aimed to investigate academic burnout in emerging adults with a focus on related academic and psychological factors. We predicted that: a) academic self-efficacy would moderate the relationship between parental expectations and academic burnout, b) parental expectations would moderate the relationship between impostorism and academic self-efficacy, and c) burnout would predict anxiety and depression via loneliness as a mediator. Emerging adult college students (N = 85) filled out a survey on Qualtrics that measured demographics, parental expectations, impostorism, academic self-efficacy, loneliness, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and academic burnout. Results indicated that parental expectations and academic self-efficacy did not significantly interact to predict academic burnout, b = -0.01, SE = 0.01, t(81) = -0.08, p = .937, 95% CI [-0.02, 0.02], sr2 < .001. Similarly, there was not a significant interaction between impostorism and parental expectations to predict academic self-efficacy, b = -0.01, SE = .01, t(81) = -1.17, p = .246, 95% CI [-0.02, 0.004], sr2 = .01, and the indirect effect of academic burnout on anxiety via loneliness was not significant, b = 0.86, boot SE = 0.77, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.63, 2.50]. However, the indirect effect of academic burnout on depression via loneliness was found to be significant, b = 1.41, boot SE = 0.62, 95% bootstrap CI [0.11, 2.58]. Burnout predicted higher loneliness, which then predicted higher levels of depression. Results pinpoint the need to mitigate the negative impact of academic burnout.
Recommended Citation
Wachtel, Andrew; Briefki, Veen; and Yake, Olivia, "Academic and Psychological Factors Associated with Academic Burnout in Emerging Adults" (2023). Science University Research Symposium (SURS). 121.
https://repository.belmont.edu/surs/121
