Perfectionism and Academic Burnout: The Mediating Role of Worry and Depressive Rumination in University Students

Abstract

The present study investigated effects of perfectionism, depressive rumination (DR), and worry on academic burnout in university students. In addition mediating roles of depressive rumination and worry was explored. A sample of 515 students (237 females, 278 males) with age range of 17-27 years; (M = 20, SD = 1.66) were included from various government and private universities of Lahore. The research instruments used were: Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby, 2001), Rumination Response Scale (Treynor, Gonzalez, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2003), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Meyer, Miller, Metzger, & Borkovec, 1990), and Indigenous Burnout Scale (Ijaz & Khan, 2012). Results revealed a significant positive relationship between perfectionism (standard/order) and worry. Moreover a significant positive relationship was also found among perfectionism (discrepancy), depressive rumination, worry, and academic burnout. The mediation analysis showed that depressive rumination and worry significantly mediated the relationship between perfectionism and academic burnout. The present study highlighted the need for studying different dimensions of perfectionism and also identifying the causes of depressive rumination and Worry in student population which have been found to be leading to academic burnout.