Education Burnout and Engagement in Occupational Therapy Undergraduate Students and Its Associated Factors

Strain and serenity: exploring the interplay of stress, burnout, and well-being among healthcare professionals

Introduction

Stress and burnout can negatively affect performance, mental health, and the overall well-being of healthcare workers. The study aims to examine the prevalence of stress and burnout, and investigate links between stress, burnout, mental state, and well-being among healthcare workers in the Czech Republic.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Czech Republic, focusing on healthcare professionals working in various healthcare settings. A total of 1,064 healthcare workers participated in the study. A standardized questionnaire battery was used, consisting of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Supso-7 measuring mental state. Separate correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted.

Results

46.24% of the healthcare workers reported high levels of emotional exhaustion, 25.56% reported high levels of depersonalization, 24.15% reported low levels of personal accomplishment, while 11.18% reported high levels of perceived stress. The findings revealed that emotional exhaustion, a core component of burnout, was associated with increased feelings of anxiety and depression. Perceived stress was also linked to anxiety and depression, while personal accomplishment appeared to mitigate depression and support positive psychological well-being.

Conclusion

The study provides promising evidence suggesting that addressing stress and emotional exhaustion, while fostering a sense of personal achievement, could lead to improvements in the mental health and work performance of healthcare workers. These findings highlight the importance of addressing burnout and stress management strategies to support the overall well-being of healthcare professionals.

Identifying engagement and associated factors in nursing students: An exploratory study

BACKGROUND

Burnout and engagement in health students surpass work life. Although levels of burnout in Nursing students are high, academic engagement is an understudied topic in Nursing, which has shown benefits. The aims were to know the level of engagement of Nursing students and to identify factors that prompt higher levels of engagement.

METHODS

An exploratory study was conducted during 2019 in three Universities in Spain. The UWES-S-17 questionnaire was used.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 808 Nursing students. An average level of engagement was found. Engagement differed significantly by gender and age, with females and older students showing greater attitudes. Participants in the second year showed lower scores in the willingness to dedicate effort and persistence than those in the first and third year (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The identification of the level of engagement and factors involved are an opportunity to probe into this approach by reinforcing positive attitudes in Nursing students. These findings show the need to seek strategies through specific educational interventions and policies. Engagement should be upheld throughout the degree and once they enter the job market to ensure the well-being during academic and future work life, a high-quality nursing care and patient safety.

Job Seekers' Burnout and Engagement: A Qualitative Study of Long-Term Unemployment in Italy

Long-term unemployment has major consequences from an economic, physical and psychosocial perspective. Several authors have pointed out that the search for employment is in itself work, which can generate feelings of exhaustion of psychophysical energies, cynicism and disinvestment, as well as a sense of ineffectiveness to the point of complete disillusion. The construct of burnout can be used to describe this psychological process. This study evaluated the burnout and engagement dimensions in individuals searching for work for a long time, from a qualitative perspective. Fifty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of long-term unemployed job seekers (Sardinia, Italy), based on Maslach's model of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, effectiveness in job search). The answers to the semi-structured interviews were processed through T-Lab, a semi-automatic textual analysis software. Four thematic cores emerged: exhaustion vs. engagement, cynicism vs. trust, inefficacy vs. efficacy in job search and disillusion vs. hope. This result is consistent with the four-dimensional theoretical model of burnout, originally proposed by Edelwich and Brodsky, recently taken up by Santinello, and framed as the opposite of engagement, as shown in the JD-R model. This study highlights that burnout can describe the psychosocial experiences of long-term unemployed job seekers.

Exploring Well-Being: Resilience, Stress, and Self-Care in Occupational Therapy Practitioners and Students

Burnout is increasingly documented in occupational therapy (OT); however, practitioner and student well-being have not been examined to date. The research aim was to explore the relationship between well-being, resilience, stress, and self-care in OT. For this purpose, a cross-sectional survey of practitioners and students was done, including a background survey, World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS). Open-ended questions and Visual Analog Scales were used to gather satisfaction and service access. Practitioners (n = 235) and students (n = 200) reported well-being "less than half of the time" on the WHO-5, "moderate" stress on the PSS, and "normal" resilience on the BRS. The BRS, PSS, and MSCS explained a significant proportion of variance on the WHO-5 for practitioners and students. Most participants used at least one self-care strategy and desired additional organizational services. The findings of elevated stress and decreased well-being underscore the importance of reimagining wellness initiatives in OT.

Clinical education-related stressors and emotional states during clinical education among physical therapy students

BACKGROUND

While clinical education-related stressors in other healthcare professions have been reported, clinical education stressors in physical therapy students are not yet clear.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to identify clusters of stressors associated with clinical education among Japanese physical therapy students and determine the association between these clusters and emotional states.

METHODS

Participants were physical therapy students who had completed five weeks of clinical education. In addition to demographic data, the survey included the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) and the Stress Reaction Scale (SRS-18). Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract latent variables for sub-items of the BJSQ. Spearman's correlation coefficients between the extracted latent variables and the subscales of the SRS-18 were calculated.

RESULTS

Data from 114 individuals (median age 21 years, 68 men and 46 women) were analyzed. The variables identified as clusters of stressors were: 1) "adaptation to clinical education"; 2) "task burden"; and 3) "appropriate work environment." These three clusters of stressors were significantly but only weakly correlated with the subscales of the SRS-18 (|rs| ≤ |-.39|).

CONCLUSION

The stressors associated with physical therapy clinical education need to be understood in terms of the students' active attitude toward clinical education, the burden of practice tasks, and the physical environment during practice.

Burnout without a job: An explorative study on a sample of Italian unemployed jobseekers

Background

Search for work is in itself a job and its outcomes are similar to those of job burnout: it can generate feelings of exhaustion, detachment from the commitment to research, and a sense of ineffectiveness. The aim of the present study is to investigate the construct of burnout within the category of long-term unemployed people engaged in job search activity.

Design and methods

The study has a cross-sectional, descriptive, and exploratory nature. Two hundred eight Italian unemployed jobseekers compiled an adaptation of the OCS Burnout scale, by Maslach and Leiter. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to investigate the psychometric features of the instrument. The relations between the instrument and age and months of job search variables were assessed through Spearman's Rho coefficient of co-graduation. Finally, a MANOVA was carried out.

Results

The questionnaire is able to intercept and describe the dimensions of respondents' burnout with respect to four dimensions: Exhaustion, Disengagement, Effectiveness in job search, Disillusion. Correlation analysis shows that the duration of the job search period has a positive relationship with Exhaustion, Disillusion, and Disengagement; a negative relationship with Effectiveness in job search. Finally, MANOVA shows that older unemployed people rate themselves less effective in job searching and more exhausted, compared to younger unemployed people.

Conclusions

The psychosocial effects of job search on the unemployed are still little studied, and this research, through the construct of burnout, proposes a comprehensive and articulated key to its understanding.

Study related factors associated with study engagement and student burnout among German university students

Introduction

Student burnout has become a health concern in higher education systems. Its prevalence rates are high due to specific demands in this life situation. It leads not only to increased academic dropout rates but is also associated with negative health outcomes both physically and mentally. Its counterpart is study engagement, which is a positive, fulfilling, study-related attitude characterized by energy, dedication, and absorption. There has not been a systematical approach covering the demands directly posed by the academic environment itself. Additionally, academic subject fields apart from medicine and nursing sciences have been mostly neglected in regards to this research field. The aim of the study is therefore to identify contributing factors for both burnout and engagement within the academic environment in a sample of different subject fields at a German university.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study, a sample of 3,451 students of all academic subjects at a technical university in Germany has been analyzed using an online survey. Sociodemographic data, study engagement, student burnout, study satisfaction, academic workload, number of semesters and occupational liabilities have been analyzed. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the associations of burnout symptoms and study engagement.

Results

Almost a third of the students showed frequent burnout symptoms, while 42.5% showed a high degree of study engagement with no differences in gender. Age was identified as a risk factor for frequent signs of cynicism (OR = 1.073). Study satisfaction (OR between 0.459 and 0.702), semester progression (OR = 0.959) and working moderately (OR between 0.605 and 0.637) was associated with fewer symptoms in different burnout-dimensions. Study satisfaction is positively associated with study engagement (OR = 2.676). Academic workload is positively related to both burnout (OR between 1.014 and 1.021) and study engagement (OR = 1.014).

Discussion

A substantial number of students show frequent symptoms of burnout and the majority is not highly engaged. The included factors contribute to the model to various degrees and show that university-bound factors play a major role. Fostering a supportive environment is key for study engagement, health and well-being. The inclusion of further, individual factors should be a future concern in order to find and promote strategies for a healthy education system.

The multiple mediating effects of grit and learning agility on academic burnout and learning engagement among Korean university students: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

This article reports the results of a study conducted to assess the mediating effects of grit and learning agility on the relationship between academic burnout and learning engagement among undergraduate students.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-report questionnaire. Undergraduate students (N = 344) were recruited from one university in South Korea (58.0% female; average age 21.43) to complete assessments of academic burnout, grit, learning agility, and learning engagement. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, hierarchical regression and bootstrapping to verify the multiple parallel mediation effect.

RESULTS

We found that the direct effect of academic burnout on learning engagement (B= -0.26, p<.001) and the indirect effect of academic burnout as mediated by learning agility (B= -0.13; 95% CI, -0.20∼-0.06) were significant. This finding confirmed that 33.3% of the total effect of academic burnout on learning engagement was the result of indirect effects via learning agility.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate the necessity of developing an educational programme that focuses not only on reducing academic burnout but also on improving learning agility to increase undergraduate students' learning engagement. This study contributes to the development of a curriculum aimed at increasing the effectiveness of university education, promoting learning engagement, and reducing academic burnout.KEY MESSAGEOur study reports that academic burnout has both a direct effect on learning engagement and an indirect effect via learning agility. Learning agility mediates the relationship between academic burnout and learning engagement among undergraduate students.Although grit has been reported by many previous studies to mediate the relationship between the tendency to pursue happiness and the willingness to continue learning and effectively improving one's academic achievement and ability, our study did not find any mediating effect via grit in this context.

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Mental Health among University Students: Do Sex and Academic Level Matter?

University students' mental health and well-being is a growing public health concern. There is a lack of studies assessing a broad range of mental health domains by sex and academic level of study. This cross-sectional online survey of BSc, MSc, and PhD students (n = 3353, 67% female) enrolled at one university in Germany assessed a wide scope of mental health domains, covering positive (i.e., self-rated health, self-esteem, student engagement) and negative aspects (i.e., perceived stress, irritation, and screening positive for depression, anxiety, comorbidity, and psychological distress). We evaluated differences in mental health by sex and academic level. Overall, although self-rated health did not differ by sex and academic level, females and lower academic level were associated with less favorable mental health. Males reported higher prevalence of high self-esteem, and higher engagement (all p ≤ 0.04). Conversely, mean perceived stress and cognitive/emotional irritation were higher among females, as were rates for positive screenings for anxiety, anxiety and depression comorbidity, and psychological distress (p < 0.001 for all). Likewise, lower academic level (BSc) was associated with lower rates of high self-esteem (p ≤ 0.001), increased perceived stress (p < 0.001), and higher prevalence of positive screening for depression, anxiety, comorbidity, and psychological distress (p ≤ 0.002 for all), while higher academic level (PhD) was linked to increased student engagement (p < 0.001 for all). Although the effect sizes of sex and academic level on student mental health were modest, these findings support a need for action to establish and expand early detection and prevention programs, on-campus advisory services, and peer counseling that focus on the sex-specific and academic-study-level-specific factors, as well as mental health and career development resources for students. Academics and policy makers need to consider multipronged intervention strategies to boost confidence of students and their academic career.

Assessing pharmacy students' baseline tolerance for ambiguity, burnout, empathy, quality of life, and stress

INTRODUCTION

Several factors may affect student wellbeing, including tolerance for ambiguity, burnout, empathy, quality of life, and stress. A better understanding of how pharmacy students score on these scales relative to other health professional students could help educators and schools address and improve student wellbeing. The study objective was to determine a baseline measure of pharmacy student tolerance for ambiguity, burnout, empathy, quality of life, and stress.

METHODS

A voluntary survey including several assessment scales (Tolerance for Ambiguity, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Interpersonal Reactivity Index [empathy], Quality of Life Scale, and Perceived Stress Scale) was sent by email to all pharmacy students within a standalone college of pharmacy.

RESULTS

Two hundred thirty-one pharmacy students completed all aspects of the survey. Comparing each scale with sex, female students trended higher in Interpersonal Reactivity Index and scored significantly higher on the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (disengagement), while male students scored significantly higher for Quality of Life. Fourth-year students scored significantly higher on the Tolerance for Ambiguity scale as compared to first- and second-year students and on the Quality of Life scale as compared with third-year students. Third-year students experienced the greatest levels of burnout. Differences were also noted based on students' anticipated area of practice (empathy) and desire to work with an underserved population (empathy and stress).

CONCLUSIONS

Pharmacy students' responses to the included scales varied greatly when considering various demographic parameters. The significant differences identified are illuminating and represent potential areas for curricular improvement, student support, and further study within pharmacy school curricula.

Promoting a sense of belonging, engagement, and collegiality to reduce burnout: a mixed methods study among undergraduate medical students in a non-Western, Asian context

BACKGROUND

Burnout is a psychological condition induced by work-related chronic interpersonal stressors. Interventions creating a sense of belonging and collegiality have been proposed as approaches for alleviating burnout. The current study aimed to: (1) explore the relationships between burnout, sense of belonging (relatedness with others), and work engagement; and (2) identify the key elements perceived by undergraduate medical students as positively contributing to collegiality, engagement, and a sense of belonging, in an undergraduate medical training setting.

METHODS

An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design using questionnaires and semi-structured individual interviews collected quantitative and qualitative data among undergraduate medical students at Mahidol University, Thailand. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey questionnaire was used to measure burnout. The Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work Scale (BPNSS-21) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student Version (UWESS-9) measured students' basic psychological needs satisfaction at work and work engagement, respectively. Descriptive statistical analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed on BPNSS-21 and UWESS-9 data. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to identify the correlation between burnout and other factors. Twenty undergraduate medical students participated in the qualitative study. Qualitative analysis was conducted iteratively using constant comparison and the standard principles of primary, secondary, and tertiary coding for thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Thai versions of the BPNSS-21 and UWESS-9 showed an acceptable fit for the Thai cultural context. Burnout had significant weak inverse associations with engagement (r = - 0.39, p < 0.005) and basic psychological needs satisfaction (r = - 0.37, p < 0.005). Sense of belonging had a significant weak inverse relationship with burnout (r = - 0.25, p < 0.005). The main themes emerging from qualitative analysis were relevant tasks and learning activities, safety in the learning environment, peer interaction, program design factors, dynamics of collegiality while progressing through medical school, and personal stance and social skills.

CONCLUSIONS

Sense of belonging, engagement, and collegiality were related to burnout. The key features for promoting collegiality, the sense of belonging, and engagement were relevant tasks and learning activities, safety in the learning environment, peer interaction, program design factors, dynamics of collegiality while progressing through medical school, and personal stance and social skills.

Toward the Association Between EFL/ESL Teachers' Work Engagement and Their Students' Academic Engagement

Given the fact that EFL/ESL students' academic engagement is of high importance for their learning success, numerous studies have been carried out to identify factors contributing to students' engagement. However, the role of teacher personal factors, notably teacher work engagement has received scant attention. Moreover, no review study has been conducted on this issue. Accordingly, the present review intends to explicate the multidimensional essence of teacher work engagement and student academic engagement and the association between these constructs. In light of the theoretical and empirical evidence, the role of EFL/ESL teachers' work engagement in improving their students' academic engagement was proved. The pedagogical implications of the findings are also highlighted.

Fear, Stress, Resilience and Coping Strategies during COVID-19 in Spanish University Students

COVID-19 (2019 coronavirus pandemic) and the resulting confinement has had an impact on mental health and the educational environment, affecting the stress, concerns, fear, and life quality of the university population. This study aimed to examine the correlation between fear of COVID-19, stress with COVID-19, and technological stress in university students, and their resilience, self-esteem, and coping strategies. The final sample comprised 180 Spanish university students, with an average age of 20.76 years (SD = 4.59). The above-mentioned effects were administered a series of self-report scales. We found statistically significant associations between fear of COVID-19 and stress with COVID-19, technological stress (total score), overload, and complexity (subdimensions of technological stress). Likewise, we found inverse relationships between the students’ fear of COVID-19 and the use of the coping strategy, cognitive restructuring. Ascertaining the factors that influence the coping strategies of undergraduate university students and their fears, psychological stress, and resilience provides valuable information for the development of educational interventions. This research has relevant implications for the diagnosis, orientation, and design of psycho-educational and clinical interventions that can improve students’ well-being and training for effective coping strategies for daily stress and this pandemic situation.

Time Perspective and the Risk of Developing Burnout: An Empirical Study among Different Blue-Collar Workers in Spain

The purpose of this research was to analyze the relationship between the time perspective of Spanish shipyard workers in relation to burnout compared to other blue-collar workers in other sectors, including a total of 644 participants in a shipyard in northern Spain and 223 workers in other sectors. The ages were between 20 and 69 (M = 46.14, SD = 10.98). We used the Spanish version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Instrument (ZTPI) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey (MBI-GS). The mean of the three reliability coefficients of the emotional exhaustion factor was 0.887. In respect to the five factors of the ZTPI questionnaire, the mean of those five coefficients was 0.86. A Student’s t-test for independent samples comparing shipyard naval workers vs. the control group in personality variables and burnout was used. The psychological difference between workers in the naval sector and those in other sectors is better predicted based on two variables: emotional exhaustion and professional efficacy. Workers in the naval sector have a higher risk of becoming burnt-out than workers in other sectors due to a negative past, present and future time perspective. This can be a consequence of constant understimulation and monotonous and repetitive work, as well as a lack of autonomy and social support at work.

Evaluation of Anxiety, Suicidal Risk, Daily Stress, Empathy, Perceived Emotional Intelligence, and Coping Strategies in a Sample of Spanish Undergraduates

Anxiety disorders and suicide are commonly under-recognized issues that can be a public health problem. Adolescents are among the most affected population groups and studying them can prevent serious health problems. These two elements are related, but at the same time, they can only be understood from a multifactorial point of view, so other related variables such as emotional intelligence, empathy, or coping strategies are key to understand their effect on the population. In this study, a series of methods to measure the variables of interest were applied to a specific group of adolescents to determine their mental health levels, focusing on suicide and anxiety episodes. The results reflected average levels with a tendency to be high in the case of anxiety and nonalarming levels in terms of suicide risk, both parameters presenting more worrying values in women. In turn, the correlation between suicide and anxiety was demonstrated considering the other variables (coping strategies, empathy, emotional intelligence, and prosociality). This research has relevant implications for the diagnosis, orientation, and design of psychoeducational and clinical interventions that contribute to the improvement of their well-being and quality of life.

Increased Alexithymia But No Profound Emotion Processing Disorder in Burnout Syndrome

Our objectives were to investigate alexithymia in burnout patients while controlling for depression and anxiety, as well as to evaluate whether alexithymia may be part of a profound emotional processing disorder or of a mentalization deficit. Alexithymia, depressive, and anxious feelings were compared in patients with burnout, depression, and healthy controls using an age-, sex-, and education-matched cross-sectional design (n = 60). A facial emotion recognition task and an emotional mentalizing performance test as well as physical and emotional violation experiences were conducted. Alexithymia was significantly increased in burnout patients, mediated by negative affect in this group. No impairment of facial emotion recognition or mental attribution could be shown. Burnout patients demonstrated slightly increased emotional abuse experiences in early childhood. The present results corroborate the supposition that alexithymia in burnout primarily depends on affect and may rise due to current strain and overload experience, rather than based on a profound developmental disorder in emotion processing.

Burnout and Time Perspective of Blue-Collar Workers at the Shipyard

Background: The aim of the research was to investigate the association between time perspective in relation to burnout and successful ageing of blue-collar workers with physically highly demanding work and low autonomy. Shipyard blue-collar workers usually do predominantly manual labor versus white-collar workers, whose jobs do not usually involve physical work. Methods: 497 participants workers in a shipyard in the north of Spain. Ages were between 20 and 69 (M = 46.62, SD = 10.79). We used the Zimbardo Time Perspective Instrument (ZTPI), Spanish version, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey (MBI-GS). Results: Emotional exhaustion factor obtained a coefficient of 0.97; cynicism factor of 0.83; and professional efficacy factor of p = 0.86. The mean of the three reliability coefficients was 0.887. With respect to the five factors of the ZTPI questionnaire: the negative past factor obtained a coefficient of p = 0.91; that of positive past p = 0.81; the present hedonistic of 0.878; the future of p = 0.83; and the fatalistic present of p = 0.90. The mean of the five coefficients, was p = 0.86. Conclusions: Within shipyard workers, burnout is associated with a negative past and negative future time perspective. This makes shipyard workers at a higher risk of developing burnout and this can have serious consequences for the sustainable employability of these blue-collar workers.

Association Between Preschoolers' Specific Fine (But Not Gross) Motor Skills and Later Academic Competencies: Educational Implications

Motor development is an inseparable component of cognitive development. So, to develop the mind, it is necessary to work the body. Therefore, Early Childhood Education curricula and the scientific literature emphasize the need to promote the development of motor skills during the 1st years of life. These skills are necessary for learning and subsequent academic performance. However, studies frequently offer only a partial view of these relationships. Few works have analyzed the specific relationships between different components of preschool gross and fine motor skills and subsequent performance on different academic competencies. Further, they present discrepant results. The aim of this study was to determinate which specific components of gross and fine motor skills assessed in Spanish students during the final year of Early Childhood Education (5 to 6-year-olds) were associated with different academic competencies assessed in the following academic year, when the students were in their 1st year of Primary Education. The final sample consisted of 38 Spanish students, aged 5. A mixed methods approach was used. It consisted of systematic observation to assess specific components of gross and fine motor skills when children were in the Early Childhood Education period, and selective methodology to evaluate their academic competencies (specifically in literacy and mathematics and overall), 1 year later, once in Primary Education. Multiple linear regression models were constructed using the computing language R to examine the association between motor skills and academic competencies. The results indicated that only the components of fine motor skills showed associations with academic competencies. The pattern of association varied when literacy and mathematics competencies were specifically and individually assessed and when overall academic competency was considered. The two assessed fine motor skills (Coordination and Integration) were associated with literacy competency (β = 0.344, p = 0.025; β = 0.349, p = 0.024, respectively) and overall academic competency (β = 0.267, p = 0.065; β = 0.493, p = 0.001, respectively). However, only Integration was associated with mathematics competency (β = 0.476, p = 0.002). The "Discussion" section focuses on the educational implications of these results and future research. It highlights the importance of early assessment of fine motor skills to identify students likely to present inadequate subsequent academic performance and the need to apply instruction and interventions tailored to the specific needs of each child.