University students' profiles of burnout symptoms amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and their relation to concurrent study behavior and experiences

Derya Turhan; Theresa Schnettler; Anne Scheunemann; Christopher K Gadosey; Lena S Kegel; Lisa Bäulke; Daniel O Thies; Laura Thomas; Ulrike Buhlmann; Markus Dresel; Stefan Fries; Detlev Leutner; Joachim Wirth; Carola Grunschel

doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2022.102081

University students' profiles of burnout symptoms amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and their relation to concurrent study behavior and experiences

Int J Educ Res. 2022:116:102081. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2022.102081. Epub 2022 Oct 6.

Affiliations

¹ University of Münster, Department of Educational Psychology, Fliednerstraße 21, 48149 Münster, Germany.
² Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
³ University of Augsburg, Germany.
⁴ Bielefeld University, Germany.
⁵ University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

Abstract

Burnout symptoms are prevalent among university students. This study examined students' understudied profiles of burnout symptoms and their relation to procrastination, dropout intentions, and study- and life satisfaction. We used cross-sectional data from two online-studies conducted in Germany in April 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic (N _study1 = 597, N _study2 = 857). Latent profile analyses indicated three profiles in both studies: (1) well-functioning, (2) moderately exhausted-inefficacious, and (3) burned-out. Most students belonged to Profiles 1 and 2 with low to moderate burnout symptoms. Students in Profile 3 reported the highest symptoms, most procrastination, strongest dropout intentions, and lowest study- and life satisfaction. The distinct profiles broaden knowledge about intra-individual differences in students' burnout experiences and underpin the need for tailored interventions.

Keywords: Academic procrastination; Latent profiles; Life satisfaction; Study satisfaction; University dropout intentions; University student burnout.