Academic Burnout and Perfectionism in UK-based Physiotherapy Students

Abstract

Abstract With perfectionism on the rise in education, students may be at greater risk to academic burnout than ever before. The aims of the study were to examine the academic burnout-perfectionism relationships, the prevalence rate, and mean scores of these variables in UK (United Kingdom) attending university physiotherapy students. 232 physiotherapy students (181 females, M age = 25.93 ± 7.15 years) completed academic burnout and multidimensional perfectionism measures. Bivariate correlations revealed a significant positive academic burnout-SPP relationship. Linear regression showed SPP to explain 12.4% of the variance of academic burnout. Additionally, 50% of the student sample exhibited moderate or high levels of academic burnout. Mean scores of SOP were high (5.14 ±1) and SPP scores were moderate to high (4.13±.88). This study’s findings provideinitial evidence of a relationship between academic burnout and SPP in physiotherapy students and add to the growing body of evidence showing SPP as a stronger direct predictor of academic burnout, relativeto SOP. Academic staff may employ a teaching strategy that is supportive to facilitating and emphasising learning with the outcome of self-fulfilment within modules compared to the promotion of a strategy that may render the individual concerned about meeting external standards is supportive to a holistic learning approach from the self, compared to the promotion of a strategy that may render the individual concerned about meeting external standards.