Examining the Relationship Between Academic Burnout and the University Student's Engagement: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Return to Face-to-Face Classes

Abstract

Objective: Academic burnout is considered a psychological condition that students present and is characterized by low motivation and a feeling of failure due to the inability to cope with academic stress or excessive academic demands. In this sense, the objective of the present investigation was to determine if academic burnout is related to the university student's engagement in the Peruvian Amazon to return to face-to-face classes.   Method: The approach was quantitative, the design was non-experimental and the type was descriptive - correlational, cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 342 students who were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey and the UWES-S Scale, instruments with adequate levels of validity and reliability. Likewise, to identify the relationship between the study variables, Pearson correlation coefficient was used.   Results: The preliminary results indicate that the students were characterized by presenting moderate levels of academic burnout and engagement. On the other hand, it was determined that the Pearson correlation coefficient between both variables was -0.722 (p<0.05). Significant correlations were also reported between academic burnout and the dimensions vigor (r= -0.701, p<0.05), dedication (r= -0.712, p<0.05) and absorption (r= -0.694, p<0.05). In the same way, significant correlations were found between student engagement and the dimensions emotional exhaustion (r= -0.711, p<0.05), cynicism (r= -0.700, p<0.05) and inefficacy (r= -0.687, p <0.05). On the other hand, the β coefficients indicate that academic burnout (β= 0.204), emotional exhaustion (β= 0.259), cynicism (β= 0.196) and inefficacy (β= 0.337) significantly predicted student engagement.   Conclusions: It was concluded that there is an inverse and significant relationship between academic burnout and the university student's engagement in the Peruvian Amazon to return to face-to-face classes.