The Role of Emotional Distress in the Relationship between COVID-19 Burnout and Academic Burnout in University Students

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine whether COVID-19 burnout and emotional distress predicted academic burnout, and to assess the mediating role of emotional distress, on the relationship between COVID-19 burnout and academic burnout in university students. The sample consisted of 311 (259 female and 52 male) students enrolled in undergraduate (87.1%), master/doctorate programs (12.9%). Students completed the COVID-19 Burnout Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory – Student Scale (MBI-SS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a significant positive relationship between COVID-19 burnout, academic burnout, and emotional distress. COVID-19 burnout and emotional distress predicted academic burnout, also COVID-19 burnout and the depression scale of the DASS-21 predicted academic burnout. In a mediaton model, emotional distress partially mediated the relationship between COVID-19 burnout and academic burnout. When the model was tested with thedepression scale of the DASS-21, the relationship between COVID-19 burnout and academic burnout was partially mediated only by the depression scale.