Academic burnout among paramedical students: Predictors and its association with perception of educational environment and academic self-efficacy

Background & Objective:

Today, several well-known factors involved in the educational environment could influence students’ level of learning because of academic burnout. Academic self-efficacy, a factor affecting academic burnout, is likely to affect students’ performance levels. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the perception of the educational environment and academic self-efficacy with the academic burnout of paramedical students studying at the Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.

Materials & Methods:

The present study was a cross-sectional type in which 300 paramedical students participated as the study sample. Data collection tools included the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM), College Academic Self-Efficacy (CASES), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Pearson’s correlation test was used to examine the relationship between variables, and linear regression applied to model the correlation between multiple variables. Data analysis was performed by SPSS (version 26).

Mean scores of academic burnout, perception of the educational environment, and academic self-efficacy were 41.79±13.4, 112.34± 24.63, and 102.65±18.73, respectively. Through linear regression, the identified predictors of academic burnout were: perception of educational environment (β=-0.769, 95%CI; -0.985, -0.553, P<0.001), academic self-efficacy (β=-0.366, 95%CI; -.544, -0.188, P<0.001) and marital status (β=0.351, 95%CI; 0.013, 0.688, P<0.05).

The results found a negative correlation between academic burnout and students' perceptions of the educational environment (EE) and academic self-efficacy. Therefore, one could consider effective factors in the learning environment to create favorable conditions for student learning and reduce academic burnout.