The prevalence and associated factors of burnout among undergraduates in a university

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and possible factors associated with burnout (BO) among undergraduates in a university setting in Dali. This cross-sectional study involved students enrolled in different specialties. The method of stratified random sampling was used to conduct the investigation. The questionnaire included Maslach Burnout Inventory and the influencing factors. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). The quantitative data were compared using t tests or ANOVA. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between BO risk and relevant influencing factors. The prevalence of study BO was 38.1%. Significant differences of the mean scores on BO and low personal efficacy were observed between men and women, with women obtaining a higher score (t=-2.588, P=.010; t=-2.929, P=.003; respectively). The scores of overall BO, emotional exhaustion (EE), and cynicism were low, whereas that of professional efficacy was higher for students with excellent marks (P=.000). Students majoring in liberal arts obtained low scores of overall BO, EE, and cynicism. Nevertheless, their score for professional efficacy was higher than those from other specializations (P