School burnouts among adolescents A systematic review
University of Amsterdam Jet Heerding
Student number: 10744584 Assessor: Ernst Mulder Date: 11-08-2017 Word count: 6047
Abstract……….…...3
School burnout..….…...4
Method………...….8
Results………...…..………...9
Overall relations ……….………...…...9
Relations between dimensions …………...………...…...12
Emotional, behavioral and cognitive school engagement ....………..16
Differences between boys and girls ………...17
Discussion……….………...………...20
Abstract
A systematic review uses the results of 20 studies to investigated the relationships between school burnout, school engagement and academic achievement among adolescents
(N = 103,920). All studies were published between 2008 and 2017, written in English and were conducted with adolescents. The results show that school engagement and academic achievement are positively related, especially for girls, and that both constructs are negatively related to school burnout. Gender was found to be a significant predictor for academic
achievement, school engagement and school burnout. Limitations are the
ethnical-homogenous samples and different questionnaires used to measure the constructs. The results indicate that there are different school- burnout and engagement profiles which can result in different display of school burnout symptoms. Future research should focus on identifying more modifiable factors which can decrease school burnout among adolescents.
Keywords: School burnout, school engagement, academic achievement, adolescents, gender
School burnouts among adolescents
A Systematic Review
In our current society statistics show a rise in adolescents with burn-out symptoms (OECD, 2009; Schrami, Peski, Grossi & Simonsson-Sarnecki, 2011). Burn-out has first been studied as a work-related disorder, but research has broadened to university and school environments. School is an environment in which students work. They attend classes, make assignments and work to receive a degree (Salmela-Aro, Vuori & Koivisto, 2007). When the symptoms of burnout affect the learning it is referred as school or academic burnout
(Schaufeli, Marinez, Pinto, Salanova & Bakker, 2002). The current study focuses on adolescents, thus school burnout is the most appropriate term to describe the phenomenon. School burnout manifests itself in three dimensions: Exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy (Schaufeli et al., 2002). The first dimension, exhaustion, is described as feelings of stress or fatigue. Cynicism refers to loss in academic work or not valuing it as meaningful and a distant attitude to schoolwork in general. The third dimension, lack of efficacy, refers to feelings of incompetence, absence of accomplishments in schoolwork and school environment as a whole, and declining academic achievements.
School burnout has major consequences for the persons affected. School burnout is associated with school dropout and various negative developmental outcomes such as depression, school dislike and stress (Salmela-Aro, Kiuru & Nurmi, 2008a). School burnout and school engagement are considered contrary (Schaufeli et al., 2002). School burnout is an erosion of school engagement according to Maslach and Leiter (1997). School engagement can be described as an overall concept that comprises vigor, dedication and absorption in schoolwork (Schaufeli et al., 2002 ). Vigor is a positive approach to studying, dedication is a positive and cognitive attitude towards studying, interest in academic work and seeing it as valuable. Absorption is a feeling of competence and success both in one’s studies as in school
as social context. Vigor, dedication and absorption are the direct opposites of the three dimensions of school burnout. Vigor changes into exhaustion, dedication into cynicism and absorption into lack of efficacy (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). School burnout and school engagement are opposite poles of a continuum. School engagement however, can also be describe as a multidimensional concept including emotional, behavioural and cognitive elements (Appleton, Christenson, Kim & Reschly, 2006). Behavioural engagement refers to behaviour directly towards school and learning, such as attending classes and effort.
Emotional engagement comprise the feelings and identification of the student with and towards the school.
There is a debate between researchers concerning the cognitive element of engagement. A consensus on how it should be conceptualized and measured is still to be attained (Li & Lerner, 2011). The scholars who do acknowledge cognitive engagement as an element of school engagement describe cognitive engagement as the ability of the student to self-regulate learning and to learn strategically (Fredricks, Blumenfeld & Paris, 2004). In European research the view of school engagement as comprising of vigor, dedication and absorption prevails (Upadyaya & Salmela, 2013). The view of school engagement consisting of emotional, behavioural and cognitive elements is mostly used in North American research (Upadyaya & Salmela, 2013).
According to the stage-environment fit theory school engagement of adolescents is determined by the fit between their developmental needs and their environments (Eccles & Midgley, 1989). It is important that the environment adapts to the change in developmental needs of adolescents. If a misfit occurs this can influence the school engagement and motivation of the adolescent in a negative way. Because of the increased demands, such as longer school days, higher workload, on the academic track the stage-environment fit theory assumes that school engagement of adolescents on the vocational track is higher than those on
the academic track.
High school engagement functions as a buffer against school burnout according to the Demands-Resources model (D&R). The D&R model divides school environment
characteristics into demands and resources. Demands require physical and/or psychological effort and resources are features useful in achieving goals. Resources reduce the demands and psychical and/or psychological costs related to them. The D&R model states that resources, such as high self-esteem and efficacy, and demands such as study challenges and overburden promote or hinder school engagement (Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2014). This involves motivational or energy-consuming processes, depending on the amount of demands,
resources, well-being and experienced engagement and burnout-symptoms (Hakanen, Bakker & Schaufeli, 2006). In the motivational process the adolescent has enough resources available to effectively handle the high study demands, leading to school engagement. In the energy-consuming process the study demands exhaust the adolescent’s energy leading to school burnout.
The Conservation of Resources (COR) model however has a different conception. The COR model considers personal characteristics such as engagement, motivation and self-esteem to be resources (Hobfoll, 1989). The COR model states that individuals are actively engaged in their environments to create and maintain resources to avoid losing them. Whenever circumstances threaten the individual’s ability to create and maintain resources stress and feelings of insecurity about their abilities to foster the motivational process
increase. This increase of stress and feelings of insecurity can lead to school burnout (Hobfoll, 1989). Furthermore, academic achievement also plays an important role in the relationship between school burnout and engagement. Academic achievement is generally operationalized as the GPA of a student and ranges between 4 (lowest) and 10 (highest) (Salmela-Aro et al., 2008a). Academic achievement and school engagement are positively related (Salmela-Aro &
Upadyaya, 2012).
School engagement is considered as a critical factor in promoting academic
achievement during adolescence (Finn & Rock, 1997). Johnson, McGue and Jacono (2006) found that changes in academic achievement were directly associated with the behavioural school engagement of adolescents. Adolescent’s with high academic achievement often exhibit high behavioural, emotional and overall school engagement, which supports future academic achievement (Li & Lerner, 2011; Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2012). Yang (2004) found that as students have higher burnout levels, their academic achievement is lower, thus concluding that burnout is negatively related to academic achievement. Furthermore, multiple studies report a positive relationship between behavioural engagement and academic
achievement, however few studies investigated the relationship with emotional engagement (Finn & Rock, 1997).
There are presumably differences between boys and girls in school burnout, school engagement and academic achievement. Previous research found differences between girls and boys in school adjustment, with sixty percent of girls attending high school indicating that they feel stress as a result of demands they put on themselves. Whereas of the boys only thirty-eight percent indicated such feelings (ULF, 2009; Jose & Ratcliffe, 2004; Matud, 2004). Girls and boys have been found to experience stressors differently, girls report more internalizing symptoms, such as depression, exhaustion and lack of efficacy
(Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994; Pomerantz, Altermatt & Saxon, 2002). Whereas boys reported more problem behaviours and externalizing symptoms, such as cynicism (Masten et al., 1999). Some research indicates that girls are more vulnerable to the negative effects of stress and are more affected by them (Ge, Conger & Elder, 2001; Kessler & McLeod, 1984) . Therefore, girls might be more affected by school burnout. However, girls also tend to be more engaged at school, have higher academic achievements and attribute more importance to
them than boys (Martin, 2004; Pomerantz et al., 2002; Murberg & Bru, 2004). Research suggests that the academic track teaches courses in a way that boys find uninteresting or irrelevant (Eccles & Midgley, 1989). Hence, leading to disengagement being more common among boys (Wigfield, Eccles, Schiefele, Roesner & Davis-Kean, 2006).
However, most discussed studies focussed on college or university students and few on adolescents (Bilge, Dost, & Çetin, 2014). Thus, little is known about the relationships between academic achievement, school engagement and school burnout in this age-group. More knowledge on burnouts in this age group is needed because of the life-long damage school burnouts can have. Therefore the aim of this systematic review will be to investigate these relations focussing on the adolescent age group (10-19 years old, WHO).. This review will examine existing literature on the overall relations found between academic achievement, school engagement and school burnout. Furthermore, relationships between academic
achievement, and dimensions of school engagement and school burnout will be investigated. Also, literature on emotional, behavioural and cognitive school engagement will be examined. And this review will provide more insight on the differences of between boys and girls
concerning academic achievement, school engagement and school burnout.
Method
A systematic search was conducted to identify article which investigated the relationship between school engagement, academic achievement and school burnout. First database searches were conducted in ERIC and PsycINFO between October 2016 and March 2017. The following search terms were used: (“school burnout”) AND (“school engagement”) , (“school burnout”) AND (“academic achievement”) and (“academic achievement”) AND (“school engagement”) were used. The search terms yielded 190 articles published between 2008 and 2017. Studies which met the following criteria were included: The study reported
results on at least two of the three constructs of interest, participants were of the adolescent age-group and the publication was written in English. After applying the criteria 13 articles qualified for this review. Further, reference lists of these publications were checked to retrieve other relevant publications, which yielded seven additional studies.
Results
The 20 identified studies have a combined sample size of 103,920 adolescents ranging in age between 11 and 21 years old. Mark that a large proportion of the adolescents (N = 8,8172) were part of the study by Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Pietkäinen and Jokela (2008b). Six studies used data from the FinEdu study conducted by Salmela-Aro, Niemivirta and Nurmi (2003). This study investigates the well-being and life-planning of people in their middle and late adolescence and consisted of four timepoints. The first timepoint at the end of ninth grade (around the age of 15), second timepoint at the first year of post-comprehensive school (age 16) and third timepoint at the second year of post-comprehensive school (age 17). The fourth timepoint took place two years after the beginning post-comprehensive education (age 19). The participants were requited from nine comprehensive schools and 13 post-comprehensive schools (N = 1,709, 49.9 % male). The number of participants differs at each time point, thus the participant information will be discussed separately for each study.
Overall relations
Nine studies investigated the relationships between academic achievement, overall school engagement and overall school burnout. Salmela-Aro, Kiuri, Pietikäinen and Jokela (2008b) investigated the relationship between overall school burnout and academic
achievement. Their study was part of The School Health Promotion Survey (SHPS) in Finland and 58, 657 (50.16 % male, age range = 14.3-16.2) adolescents from 431 comprehensive schools and 29, 515 (43.72 % male, age range = 16.3-18) adolescents from 228
level of adolescents was found on both comprehensive and upper secondary schools (β = -.20; β = -.16; p < .001). Two percent of the variation in school burnout levels could be explained by whether the participants attended comprehensive or upper secondary school. Thus, the findings suggest that the transition from comprehensive school to secondary school contributes little to the experienced school burnout levels of adolescents.
Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen and Nurmi (2009) also found a negative relationship between academic achievement and overall school burnout with their sample (β = -.13; p < .01). The sample consisted of 1418 (50 % male, Mage = 16.47, SD = 1.73) adolescents recruited from 13 post-comprehensive schools in Finland. The same relationship was found by Kiuru, Aunola, Nurmi, Leskinen and Salmela-Aro (2008) with 517 adolescents in the ninth grade (48.7 % male, Mage = 15; SD = 0.34). They found that adolescents with high academic achievement reported lower school burnout levels than adolescents with low academic achievement (β = -.19, p < .01). Thus, a negative relationship between academic achievement and level of school burnout was confirmed (R2 = .04).
As discussed earlier academic achievement and school engagement are positively associated according to theory and earlier findings. The findings of Tuominen-Soini and Samela-Aro (2014) confirm the assumed positive relationship (r = .33, p < .01). They used data from the FindEdu study and their sample consisted of 979 (40 % male, Mage = 18.14; SD = 1.11) adolescents from six post-comprehensive schools in one city in the Eastern of Finland. A study conducted by Reyes, Brackett, Rivers, White and Salovey (2012) in the northeast of the United States (U.S.) found similar relationship between school engagement and academic achievement. Higher ratings of engagement were related to higher grades in English language arts (ELA) classes (t = 5.18, p < .001, δ = .18).Their sample consisted of 1399 (50 % male) six grade students from 44 different schools. Unfortunately, the article provides no participant information concerning the age of the sample, thus we can only conclude that most of the
adolescents probably have been around the age of 11 or 12 years old. Because this is the average age of six grade students in the U.S. (Wikipedia contributors, 2017a).
Upadyaya and Salmela-Aro (2013) investigated school engagement trajectories. They used data from timepoints 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the FinEdu study (N = 804, 51 % male). The participants were around 16 (time point 1), 17 (time point 2), 18 (time point 3) and 21 years old (time point 4). Four school engagement trajectories were identified: High increasing (72 %), low increasing (14 %), high decreasing (9 % ) and low stable (5 %). They found that the low increasing and the high increasing group differed significantly in GPA scores (t = 2.15, p < .001). The low increasing group reported low initial levels of engagement, but increased after the transition to post-comprehensive school. The high increasing group reported high initial levels of engagement and increased slightly after the transition. This positive
relationship between school engagement and academic achievement was also found by
Borofsky, Kellerman, Baucom, Oliver and Margolin (2013) in the U.S. They found that found that overall school engagement predicted the GPA of adolescents 2.5 years later (β = .34, t(91) = 3.68, p < .001). Their sample consisted of 94 (50 % male) adolescents between 10.94 and 14.61 years old at timepoint 1 (Mage = 12.69, SD= .75) and between 13.68 and 18.60 years old at timepoint 2 (Mage = 15.31, SD= .73). Concludingly, the majority of adolescents
experience an increase in school engagement after transition to post-comprehensive school and that school engagement and academic achievement are positively related.
Another research investigated the relationship between school engagement and school burnout (Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2014). They found a negative relationship between school engagement and school burnout at timepoint 2 and 3 (β = -.38; β =-.30; p < .001). And, school burnout negatively predicted school engagement one year later (β =-.08; p < .001). Their sample used data from all four timepoints of the FinEdu study described earlier (N = 1,709, 49.9 % male). The mean age at the first timepoint was 15.47 (SD = 1.74). However,
Salmela-Aro et al. (2009) found that school engagement predicted overall school burnout of adolescents (β = -.11; p < .01). Hence, unclarity concerning predictors remains. Salmela-Aro and Upadaya (2012) investigated the relationship between school engagement, school burnout and GPA on academic and vocational track. They also examined whether the three (vigor, dedication and absorption) or one (overall school engagement) dimension model fitted the data best. The sample consisted of 1530 (49.7 % male) adolescents and 2 timepoints (Mage = 16.47, SD = 1.73). The first measurement took place at the first year of upper-secondary or vocational school and the second measurement one year later. The GPA of the last year of comprehensive school was used. The results show that the one dimension model fitted the data of the younger participants best. At timepoint 1 overall school engagement was negatively related to school burnout and positively to GPA (r = -.31, r = .20, p < .001). Furthermore, adolescents on the vocational track reported higher levels of school engagement than adolescents on the academic track indicating evidence for the stage-fit theory that states that the academic demands on academic track are higher.
Concludingly, all nine studies found that overall school burnout is negatively related to academic achievement and overall school engagement. Academic achievement and school engagement are positively related and academic achievement is predicted by overall school engagement. The transition from comprehensive to post-comprehensive school seems to contribute little to the increase in school burnout levels and most adolescents experience an increase in school engagement after. Furthermore, both school engagement as school burnout seem to be predictors for each other, but unclarity on how exactly remains. The study
Salmela-Aro and Upadaya (2012) indicates that the age of adolescents might be of influence to whether the one or three dimension model fits the participants best.
Relations between dimensions
achievement and dimensions of school engagement and school burnout will be discussed. A study conducted in Ankara Turkey by Bilge, Dost and Çetin (2014) investigated relationship between the dimensions of school burnout (exhaustion, cynicism & lack of efficacy) and academic achievement. They found a negative relationship between academic achievement and the lack of efficacy (F = 12.062, p < .001). The sample consisted of 605 (43.1 % male) adolescents (Mage = 16.33, SD = 1.11). Salmela-Aro et al. (2008a) investigated the
relationship between academic achievement and the school burnout dimensions using data from three time-points of the FinEdu study. The sample consisted of 658 (52.1 % male) adolescents and at the first time-point the median age was 15 years old (SD = 0.34). They found that adolescents with low GPA’s reported higher levels of exhaustion, lack of efficacy and cynicism than adolescents with high GPA’s (β = -.13, p < .05, β = -.27, p < .001, β = -.26, p < .01). Furthermore, among adolescents with low GPA’s cynicism increased more than among adolescents with high GPA’s (β = -.20, p < .01). However, on the vocational track academic achievement was found to have no predictive value for school burnout.
A study conducted in South Korea investigated school burnout patterns in relation to academic achievement (Lee et al., 2010). They identified four clusters of burnout profiles: Distressed students (25 %), laissez-faire students (32.8 %), persevering students (13.8 %) and well-functioning students (28.4 %). The distressed group indicated the highest scores on all school burnout dimensions. The laissez-faire group scored low on all school burnout dimensions, but felt incompetent. The persevering group indicated high scores on all the burnout dimensions and the well-functioning group indicated the lowest scores. The GPA scores of the well-functioning adolescents were significantly higher than those of distressed or laissez-faire adolescents. Persevering adolescents also had higher GPA scores than distressed adolescents. GPA was found to be a statistically significant coefficient for the clusters and explained 11 percent of the variation in the clusters (β = -.26; p < .01). Their sample consisted
of 338 (47.3 % male) adolescents. 27.2 percent attend middle school, with an approximated age range of 12-15 years old. The remaining adolescents attended high school with an approximated age range between 15-18 years old.
Shih (2015) also investigated school burnout profiles among 407 (54 % male, Mage = 13.75, SD = 0.31) Korean adolescents. The participants ranged between 12 and 15 years old in age. Shih (2015) found school burnout profiles corresponding with those of Lee et al. (2010). They found that the distressed group, who reported the highest scores of school
burnout and lowest GPA, also reported the lowest scores on vigor (M = 2.30), dedication (M = 2.38) and absorption (M = 2.36). The well-functioning group, who reported the lowest scores of school burnout and highest GPA, also reported the highest scores on vigor (M = 3.51), dedication (M = 3.75) and absorption (M = 3.59). However, there was no significant
difference between the persevering and laissez-faire groups concerning school engagement. Shih (2015) also investigated the relationship between school engagement and school burnout dimensions. Vigor was found to be negatively related to the exhaustion dimension of school burnout (r = -.31, p < .001). Dedication was related to exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy (r = -.30, r = -.42, r = -.43, p < .001). Absorption failed to predict any dimension of school burnout. Salmela-Aro et al. (2009) found that overall school engagement has a direct effect on the cynicism dimension of school burnout (β = 37; p < .01). Tuominen-Soini and Samela-Aro (2014) also found a negative relationship between overall school engagement, and cynicism and lack of efficacy (r = -.52, r = -.31, p < .01).
Contrary, another studies did find relations between all dimensions of school engagement and school burnout. Shih (2012) found negative relationships between all dimensions of school burnout and school engagement. The sample consisted of 435 (54 % male, Mage = 14.5, SD = 0.31) adolescents with an age ranged between 13 and 15 years old and the research was conducted in Twain. Exhaustion was found to be significantly related to
vigor, dedication and absorption (r = -.65, r = -.64, r = -.49, p < .01). Cynicism was related to vigor, dedication and absorption (r = -.62, r = -.66, r = -.54, p < .01). Lastly, lack of efficacy was related to vigor, dedication and absorption (r = -.63, r = .69, r = -.58, p < .01). Çapri, Gündüz and Akbay (2013) found the same relationship among older adolescents, between 16 and 20 years old (N = 461, 51.2 % male) in Turkey. Vigor was negatively related to
exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy (r = -.41, r = -.25, r = -.45, p < .05). Dedication was negatively related to exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy (r = -.36, r = -.23, r = -.51, p < .05). Lastly, absorption was also significantly related to exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy (r = -.21, r = -.12, r = -.32, p < .05). Salmela-Aro and Upadaya (2012) also that the three dimension school engagement model fitted the data at timepoint 2. They found that school burnout was related to vigor, dedication and absorption (r = -.30, r = -.28, r = -.24, p < .001). Furthermore, GPA was also positively related to vigor, dedication and absorption (r = .28, r = .33, r = .32, p < .001).
In conclusion, all dimensions of school engagement are negatively related to school burnout dimensions to some extent. However, there is reason to question the relationship between the absorption dimension of school engagement and school burnout. The relationship was found to be weakest or non-existing (Çapri, Gündüz & Akbay, 2013; Shih, 2015; Shih, 2012). Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) argue that these findings support the assumption that absorption is an unique dimension of school engagement which is not specifically related to dimensions of school burnout. Furthermore, the relationship between the lack of efficacy dimension of school burnout and dedication dimension of school engagement was found to be the strongest (Çapri et al., 2013; Shih, 2015; Shih, 2012). The finding indicate that academic achievement plays an important in the development of school burnout. Several studies found that GPA determined whether adolescents belonged to high or low school engagement and school burnout trajectories.
Emotional, behavioral and cognitive school engagement
As described earlier some researchers distinguish school engagement in emotional, behavioural and cognitive engagement. Three studies that have investigated the relationship between emotional, behavioural and cognitive school engagement and academic achievement. Wang and Holcombe (2010) used data from the MADIC study (N = 1046, 48 % male). They used the 1st (7th grade) and 2nd (end of 8th grade) timepoints of the study. No participant
information concerning age is available, thus it can only be concluded that most students in the 7th grade are approximately around the age of 12 or 13 years old and around the age of 14
or 15 in 8th grade (Wikipedia contributors, 2017c). A positive relationship between
emotional, behavioral and cognitive engagement and GPA was found (β = .32, β = .13, β = .17, p < .05). Wang and Peck (2013) investigated the same relationship among older adolescents using data from the 3rd (9th grade), 4th (11th grade) and 5th (one year after
graduation) timepoints of the MADIC study (N = 1025, 47 % male). Likewise, no participant information regarding age is available, thus it can only be stated that students in the 9th grade
were around the age of 14-15 years old, around 16-17 years old in the 11th grade and about
18-19 years old one year after graduation (Wikipedia contributors, 2017b). They found similar results with GPA being positively related to emotional, behavioral and cognitive school engagement (r = .28, r = .23, r =.19, p < .001).
Wang and Peck (2013) also investigated five profiles of engagement based on
emotional, behavioral and cognitive engagement levels. Differences in academic achievement could be explained by the engagement profile of the students (F(8, 10150 = 194.13, p < .001). Members of the highly engaged (high emotional, behavioral and cognitive engagement levels) and emotionally disengaged (low emotional, moderate behavioral and high cognitive levels) groups had significantly higher GPA scores than the other groups (p < .05). Another study also conducted in the U.S. contradicts these findings (Li & Lerner, 2011). They identified the
following behavioural engagement groups: Decreasing group (4.41 %), transitory decreasing group (15.1 %), moderate stable trajectory group (62.2 %) and the high stable group (18.4 %). For emotional engagement the following groups were identified: A decreasing (5.3 %), moderate with slight decrease over time (41.1 %), high with also slight decrease (47.9 %) and highest group (5.7 %).The shape developmental trajectories of emotional differed from the behavioural engagement trajectories, which indicate that their course is different.
Adolescent’s GPA’s were found to be associated with being a member of a particular behavioural and emotional engagement trajectory group (F(3, 1967) = 52.52, range = 39.52-63.24, p < .01, F(3,1967) = 21.41, range = 15.84-32.17, p < .01). Adolescents of the
transitory decreasing and decreasing groups of behavioural engagement, and of the decreasing group of emotional engagement self-reported the lowest GPA’s. They used from the 4-H study of positive youth development (PYD), which is an ongoing longitudinal project with 9 timepoint measurements. Data from the first 4 timepoints, between 5 and 8 grade were used (N = 1977, 57.4 % male, Mage = 11.0, SD = 0.52).
Concludingly, emotional, behavioural and cognitive school engagement are positively related to academic achievement. The relationship seems to the strongest for emotional school engagement, however Wang and Peck (2013) found that when investigating emotional,
behavioural and cognitive school engagement simultaneously behavioural and cognitive school engagement determined whether adolescents were members of school engagement groups with high GPA. Thus, indicating that the combination of the school engagement types might be more influential.
Differences between boys and girls
One of the aims of this study is to investigate the differences between boys and girls regarding academic achievement, school engagement and school burnout. First, two studies found that school burnout rates of girls are higher than boys (Salmela-Aro et al., 2008a;
Salmela-Aro et al., 2008b). Salmela-Aro et al. (2008b) found that girls attending
comprehensive or upper secondary schools experienced more school burnout than boys (β = .11; p < .001; β = .15; p < .001). Salmela-Aro et al. (2008a) investigated differences between boys and girls on academic and vocational track. On the academic track both gender and academic achievement were found to predictors for the exhaustion and efficacy dimension of school burnout (R2 = .13, R2 = .11). Also, girls on the academic track were found to have higher GPA’s than boys (β =-.12, p < .05). Furthermore, girls on the academic track reported higher exhaustion, lack of efficacy and cynicism scores than boys (β =-.36, β=-.21, p < .001, β = -.17, p < .01). The same relationship was found on the vocational track, gender predicted the levels of exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy (R2 = .10, R2 = .03, R2 = .03). Girls reported more exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy than boys (β = .31, p < .001, β = -.18, p < .05, β = -.26, p < .01).
Another study also investigated the differences between boys and girls on the
academic and vocation track found different results. Salmela-Aro and Tynkkynen (2012) used data from the FinEdu study. Their sample consisted of 770 (51.56 % male) adolescents (Mage= 16). They found that both boys and girls on the academic track increased in overall school burnout, where adolescents on the vocational track did not (Slope Mgirls=.30, p < .01, slope Mboys=.57, p < .001). Furthermore, they found that boys on the academic track increased the most in overall burnout scores (χ² (1) = 20.37, p < .001). More specifically, boys on the academic track increased in exhaustion, cynicism and lack of efficacy levels (Slope M=.46, slope M = .45, slope M = .62, p < .001). However, girls on the academic track only increased in lack of efficacy (Slope M = .41, p < .01). An even more striking finding is that girls on the vocational track decreased in cynicism levels (Slope M = -.43, p < .05). The adolescents in the sample of Salmela-Aro and Tynkkynen (2012) were older, it might indicate that the age plays an important role in the found differences between boys and girls.
Vasalampi, Salmela-Aro and Nurmi (2009) investigated the differences between boys and girls concerning school engagement and school burnout. They used data from the FinEdu study (Salmela-Aro et al., 2003). The sample consisted of 763 adolescents (Mage = 16.94; SD = 0.28) who were asked to participate at three timepoints. School engagement and school burnout were administered at the second timepoint (the third grade of upper secondary school) at which 636 adolescents (17 % male) participated. For both boys and girls a negative
relationship between school engagement and school burnout was found and the relationship indicated to be stronger for girls (r = -.34, p < .001, r = -.26, p < .01). Further, the mean score of school engagement for boys was lower than those of girls (Mboy = 2.99; Mgirls = 3.57). No such difference was found for mean scores of school burnout between boys and girls (Mboy =2.54; Mgirls = 2.73).
Li and Lerner (2011) also found that being a member of a particular emotional and behavioural school engagement trajectory was significantly related to gender, girls were more likely to be members of groups with the highest school engagement levels (χ2(3, N = 1997) = 34.46, range = 31.98-48.94, χ2(3, N = 1977) = 49.32, range = 47.54-51.25, p < .01). This finding is not surprising, given that gender is a significant predictor of GPA and school engagement (Borofsky, Kellerman, Baucom, Oliver & Margolin, 2013). Girls reported higher school engagement and GPA at timepoint one than boys (t(116) = 2.57, t(94) = 2.59, p = .01). Salmela-Aro and Upadaya (2012) found that the school engagement of girls is higher
regardless whether they attend the academic or vocational track. Girls reported higher levels of overall school engagement at timepoint one and higher levels of vigor and dedication at timepoint two than boys (r = -.15, p < .001, r = -.07, r = -.06, p < .01).
To sum up all, all studies found girls displayed higher school engagement and academic achievement than boys. However, regarding school burnout rates the findings are inconclusive. Among younger adolescents girls tend to report more school burnout than boys,
however another study conducted with slightly older adolescents found that boys reported and increased more in school burnout than girls. On both academic as vocational track gender predicted school burnout levels of adolescents, but results indicate that the vocational track leads to lower school burnout levels for girls.
Discussion
This systematic review aimed to investigate the relations between school engagement, academic achievement and school burnout among adolescents. Four conclusion can be drawn from this review. First, school engagement and academic achievement are positively related and both are negatively related to school burnout. This is in accordance with the D&D model which states that when adolescents have enough resources, like high academic achievements, a motivational process takes place ensuing school engagement. Secondly, the assumed negative relationships between school engagement and school burnout dimensions were found. The lack of efficacy was found to be related the strongest to school engagement. This supports the assumption of the COR model which states that the feelings of insecurity might lead to school burnout (Hobfoll, 1989). The absorption dimension of school engagement was related the weakest to school burnout.
Third, emotional school engagement was strongly related to academic achievement, however the results indicate that the combination of emotional, behavioural and cognitive school engagement might be of more influence on the academic achievement of adolescents than emotional engagement alone. Fourth, the findings concerning the differences between boys and girls indicate that overall boys report lower school engagement and academic achievement than girls. Research found that among younger adolescents girls report higher school burnout levels than boys, however the relationship seems to shift as adolescents get older. Indicating that age might be a an important factor for school burnout among boys (Maddox & Prinz, 2003).
This might be explained by the difference between boys and girls in school
engagement levels. Girls are more likely to display high levels of school engagement, which is negatively related to school burnout. Boys were found to have lower school engagement levels, increasing their risk on school burnout. Furthermore, as graduation from upper-secondary school comes boys may experience an increased pressure to accomplish higher academic achievements (Lefkowitz, 2005). Hence, leading to them catching-up with the school burnout levels of girls or even exceed them. Boys and girls respond different to stressors, boys display more externalizing behaviour like skipping classes or cynicism and girls display more internalizing problems and value academic achievement more than boys (Pomeranz, Altermatt, & Saxon, 2002). This can result in feeling more stress when their academic achievements decline, resulting in school burnout. Furthermore, evidence for the demand-resources model and stage-environment theory was found: Adolescents on the academic track reported higher levels of school burnout. Also, the vocational track indicated to be protective against school burnout for girls. Possibly because of the lower academic demands, hence leading to less stress concerning their academic achievements.
The results of this systematic review build upon existing literature (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Salmela-Aro et al., 2007). More insight upon the relations between academic achievement, school engagement and school burnout among adolescents has been gained. Enhancing the academic achievement and school engagement of adolescents protect them from a possible burnout. Especially the found differences between boys and girls can provide helpful tools for teachers and parents. For girls decreasing the experiences pressure upon high academic achievements might be most successful and increasing the school engagement for boys.
However, this review and the used studies have several limitations. First, most studies consisted of mostly homogeneous ethnical samples, with little diversity. This limits the
generalizability of the results to adolescents of ethnical minorities. Secondly, studies used differed measurements to investigate the constructs of interest. Also, the studies were
conducted in different countries, of which most have different educational systems and school cultures. Especially in Asian countries the school culture is more focused on academic
achievement and higher levels of school burnout are found here. Lastly, the current study focused only on the three concepts of interest. However, other relevant concepts may also be of influence on school burnout, such as school climate, depressive feelings, low self-esteem and sleeping problems (Reyes, Brackett, Rivers, White & Salovey, 2012). Future research should focus on identifying more factors that influence school burnout. Also, more research should be conducted on the role of the vocational track for school burnout. Studies indicate a protective influence for adolescents, identifying the mechanism that induce this influence can be insightful for development of interventions.
Concludingly, important relations between academic achievement, school engagement and school burnout were found. This review indicates academic achievement and school engagement influential factors in the development of school burnout among adolescents. However, the results also indicate that more factors are involved in the process and future research is needed. Hence, with the current findings intervention concerning school burnout can be developed and enhanced to reduce the current growing rate of school burnout among adolescents.
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Appendix 1
School burnout, school engagement and academic achievement research synthesis.
Authors and
publication year
Country Research method, main purpose and sample
Instruments Major findings and conclusion
Bilge, Dost, & Çetin (2014)
Turkey Examine the relationship between students’ levels of burnout and school engagement with respect to academic success, study habits, and self-efficacy beliefs. N= 605 (43.1 % male), mean age= 16.33 yrs. (SD=1.11) PIF (e.g. GPA), MBI–SF, UWES - No difference found in student’s school engagement according to their GPAs - Students with higher GPA
values reported higher self-efficacy levels
Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya (2014).
Finland To examine the applicability of the demands–resources to the school context. Longitudinal study N= 1709 (49.9 % male), mean age= 15.47 yrs. (SD = 1.74) Study demands, study resources, and personal resources, UWES-9, School Burnout Inventory
- study demands were related to school burnout a year later - study resources were related
to schoolwork engagement. - School burnout predicted
schoolwork engagement negatively 1 year later. - Burnout mediated the
relationship between study demands and mental health outcomes. Tuominen-Soini & Samela-Aro (2014) Finland
(FinEdu) The primary aim of this study was to examine what profiles of schoolwork engagement and burnout can be identified in high School. Also gender differences were examined Longitudinal study EDA, the School Burnout Inventory
- Latent profile analysis identified 4 groups of students in high school. - Both engaged (44%) and
engaged–exhausted (28%) students were engaged and doing well in school,
although engaged–exhausted students were more stressed and preoccupied with possible failures.
- Cynical (14%) and burned-out (14%) students were less
N= 979 (40 % male), mean age= 18.14 yrs.
(SD=1.11)
engaged, valued school less, and had lower academic achievement.
- Cynical students, however, were less stressed,
exhausted, and depressed than burned-out students. Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Pietikäinen & Jokela (2008) Finland
(SHPS) To examine the extent to which schools differ in school-related burnout. To which extend school-related and background factors are associated with school burnout at the school level and at the individual level. N= 58,657 (50.16 % male), age range= 14.3-16.2 yrs. (comprehensive school) And N= 29, 515 (47.72 % male), age range= 16.3-18 yrs. (upper secondary school) SSBI, School Health Promotion Survey, demographi c information
- Only small differences between schools in school burnout scores were found. - At the individual level,
negative school climate was positively related, and support from school and positive motivation received from teachers were
negatively related to burnout among both the
comprehensive and upper secondary school students. - Girls and adolescents with
lower GPA experienced higher levels of school burnout compared to boys and adolescents with higher GPA. Salmela-Aro & Tynkkynen (2012) Finland
(FinEdu) To examine differences in student burnout by gender, time status with two time points before and after an educational transition, and educational track (academic vs. vocational). Sample size: 770 (51.6 %), mean age= 16 yrs the School Burnout Inventory, questions about educational track and demographi c information
- Among boys on the academic track, overall school burnout and its three dimensions, exhaustion, cynicism and lack of
efficacy, increased, whereas among boys on the
vocational track, no changes in school burnout emerged. - Among girls on the academic
track, overall school burnout and lack of efficacy
increased, whereas among girls on the vocational track, cynicism decreased.
- Finally, school burnout was highest among girls on the
academic track, but
increased most among boys on the academic track.
Salmela-Aro, Kiuru & Nurmi (2008)
Finland
(FinEdu) The study investigated the extent to which school-related burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of lack of efficacy) changes during the transition from comprehensive school to an academic or vocational track. N= 658 (52.1 % male), mean age= 15 yrs. (SD=0.34) The School Burnout Inventory, questions concerning the educational track, self-reported GPA of the preceding term - Adolescents on an academic track experienced more exhaustion at school than those on a vocational track. - Among adolescents on an
academic track both the level of cynicism and lack of efficacy at school increased across time.
- Among adolescents on a vocational track lack of efficacy at school decreased across time while cynicism increased before the school transition and decreased thereafter.
- Girls experienced more overall school burnout than boys.
- Adolescents whose academic achievement was lower experienced a higher level of burnout than adolescents who did better at school. - The results support the
stage-environment fit theory according to which the nature of the environments in academic and vocational education are more
important than the transition per se for changes in how adolescents think and feel about school (see Eccles & Midgley, 1989). Kiuru, Aunola, Nurmi, Leskinen & Salmela-Aro (2008) Finland (KST/ FinEdu) Investigate the extent to which peer group similarity in school burnout is due to peer group influence and the extent to which it is due to peer group selection.
Moreover, the roles
BBI-10, self-reported GPA of the preceding term
- High academic achievement protected group members against an increase in school burnout.
- Academic achievement negatively predicted the level of school burnout. - Indirect effect from gender
to the rate of change in burnout via academic achievement.
of academic achievement and gender in school burnout were examined. Longitudinal study N= 517 (48.7 % male), mean age= 15 yrs. (SD=0.34) Vasalampi, Salmela-Aro & Nurmi (2009) Finland
(FinEdu) Investigated whether self-concordance of adolescents’ achievement-related goal predicts their school engagement and lack of burnout during upper secondary school as well as their subsequent educational trajectories. Also examined whether goal
effort and progress mediate these associations. Longitudinal study N= 636 (17 % male) , mean age at T1= 16.94 yrs. (SD=0.28) Abbreviated version of UWES-S, BBI-10, self-reported GPA on certificate of graduation of comprehens ive school
- Low goal progress was related to school burnout, which in turn was reflected later on in delay in studies and low educational aspirations. - Negative relationship
between school engagement and school burnout, which was stronger for girls than boys.
- Engagement mean scores are lower for boys.
Shih
(2015) Taiwan to explore the relations among perceptions of teachers’ autonomy support versus psychological control, satisfaction of need for autonomy, work engagement, and academic burnout. Sample size: 407 MBI-SS,
UWES-S - Work engagement all had significant influences on their experienced academic burnout.
- Vigor and dedication mediated the relations
between perceived autonomy support provided by teachers and student burnout.
- Evidence was found for the four different types of academic burnout. - Well-functioning students
(54 17 % male), mean age= 13,92 yrs. (SD=0.31)
were the most engaged group characterized by the highest levels of vigor, dedication, and absorption.
- Distressed students obtained the lowest scores across all the dimensions of work engagement.
Çapri, Gündüz & Akbay (2013)
Turkey To determine the relations between high school students’ life satisfaction, burnout, work engagement and hopelessness scores and examine the contribution of their burnout, work engagement and hopelessness scores in the prediction of their life satisfaction scores. N= 461(51.2 % male), age range= 16-20 yrs.
MBI-SS,
UWES-SS - All three dimensions of engagement are significantly related to all three
dimensions of school burnout.
- The strongest negative relation was found between dedication and lack of efficacy.
- Between absorption and cynicism the lowest correlation was found.
Shih
(2012) Taiwan Examines the relationships among work engagement versus academic burnout, and their avoidance of help seeking as well as self-handicapping behaviors. N= 435 (54 % male), mean age= 14.5 yrs. (SD=0.31)
MBI-SS,
UWES-S - Students’ dedication negatively predicted both avoidance of help seeking and self-handicapping. - The lack of efficacy
positively predicted help avoidance, whereas cynicism positively predicted self-handicapping.
- All three dimensions of school burnout were significantly related to all three dimensions of school engagement.
- The correlations between absorption and the dimensions of school burnout were the lowest. Borofsky,
Kellerman, Baucom,
U.S. Examined the relationship between school
Self-designed questionnair
- Girls reported more school engagement at T1 and also had higher GPAs than boys.
Oliver & Margolin (2013) engagement and academic achievement. Longitudinal study N= 96 (50 % male), mean age T1= 12.69 (SD= 0.75) yrs., mean age T2= 15.31 (SD=0.73) yrs. 33.9 % Hispanic/Latino. e (7 items) to measure school engagement , GPA - School engagement predicted GPA.
- Gender was a significant predictor of GPA.
Li & Lerner (2011)
U.S. To determine if there are distinctive developmental paths for
behavioural and emotional school engagement and if these paths vary in relation to gender, race/ethnicity, and family SES; and whether a link exist between the trajectories of school engagement and grades. Longitudinal study N= 1977 (42.6 % male), mean age T1= 11.0 (SD=0.52) yrs. Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors, Emotional school engagement was assessed by self-designed questionnair e , grade self-report,
- For both behavioral and emotional school
engagement four trajectories were identified.
- Trajectories varied in regard to gender, SES, and
race/ethnicity.
- The different trajectories of behavioral and emotional school engagement are linked to grades. Reyes, Brackett, Rivers, White & Salovey (2012) United states of America
Examined the link between classroom emotional climate and academic achievement, including the role of student engagement as a mediator N= 1399 (50 % male), estimated age= 12 yrs. The Engagement vs. Disaffection Scale, year-end report cards of English language arts,
- The positive relationship between classroom
emotional climate and grades was mediated by
engagement.
- When controlling for
classroom emotional climate, higher ratings of student engagement were associated with higher grades.
- Boys had lower grades and engagement scores than girls.
Wang & Peck (2013)
U.S.
(MADIC) Investigated school engagement profiles predict educational success and mental health. Longitudinal study N= 1025 (47 % male), estimated age range= 14-20 yrs. GPA (school report cards and student self-report), educational aspiration, the Behavioral Participatio n scale, the School Identificatio n, the Self-Regulated Learning scale
- Five profiles of student engagement in school were identified: Highly Engaged, Moderately Engaged, Minimally Engaged, Emotionally Disengaged, and Cognitively Disengaged. - The engagement profiles
predicted later GPA. - Highly engaged and
emotionally disengaged students differed
significantly in GPAs from the other groups.
- GPA was related the strongest to emotional engagement. Wang & Holcombe (2010) U.S.
(MADIC) Examined the relationships among middle school students' school engagement and academic achievement. Short-term longitudinal study N= 1046 (48 % male), estimated age range = 12-15 yrs. GPAs collected from school records, the school engagement index of 14 items which measure school participatio n, school identificatio n, and use of self-regulation.
- GPA was related to
behavioural, emotional and cognitive school
engagement. Of which emotional engagement was the most influential.
Upadyaya & Salmela-Aro (2013)
Finland
(FinEdu) Investigated the developmental trajectories and the possible
antecedents (e.g., gender, school track and academic achievement) of school engagement Longitudinal study N= 804 (51 % male), age range= 16-21 yrs. UWES-S, GPA of the final comprehens ive report (at T1).
- Four latent trajectory groups of study and work
engagement: high increasing (72%), low increasing (14%), high decreasing (9%), and low stable (5%). - Members of the high
increasing and low
increasing group different significantly in GPA.
Lee, Puig, Kim, Shin, Lee & Lee (2010)
South
Korea The purpose of this study is to identify specific burnout patterns among Korean students. Cross-sectional study N= 338 (47.3 % male), age range= 12-18 yrs.
MBI-SS,
GPA - Four clusters were identified: Distressed, laissez faire, persevering and
well-functioning students. - GPA is a good
discriminators between the clusters.
- Specifically, students who self-identified as not experiencing burnout (well-functioning group) were found to have the highest scores on GPA.
Salmela-Aro & Upadaya (2012)
Finland To assess the validity and reliability of the Schoolwork engagement Inventory among students attending post-comprehensive schools. N= 1530 (49.7 % male), mean age= 16.47 (SD=1.73) yrs. The abbreviated student version of the short UWES-S, SBI, GPA
- The results showed that a one-factor solution had the most reliability and fitted best among the younger students, whereas a three-factor solution was most reliable and fit best among the older students.
- Boys and upper-secondary-school students experienced lower levels of schoolwork engagement than girls and vocational-school students. Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen & Nurmi (2009)
Finland Examines the validity and reliability of the School Burnout Inventory among students in upper secondary high schools and vocational schools. N= 1418 (50 % male), mean age= 16.47 (SD= 1.73) yrs. SBI, self-reported GPA, abbreviated version of UWES-S
- The results showed that the three-factor solution, most reliable and fitted the data best.
- The lower the academic achievement and school engagement of students, the more cynicism and lack of efficacy they reported. - Besides predicted overall
school burnout, school engagement also had an direct effect on cynicism.
