Student Burnout: A Case Study about a Portuguese Public University

Abstract

Burnout is increasingly present in organizations and in the most diverse professions, namely, in university students. Burnout can have negative repercussions on their well-being and can even lead them to abandon their studies. The objective of the study focuses on academic burnout and taking medication as a consequence of the requirements of the academic path of students at a Portuguese public university. To achieve this goal, a quantitative methodology was used, consisting of the distribution of a questionnaire to a sample of students from the analyzed university. The first study questionnaire obtained 207 responses, all valid. To perform the analysis of the quantitative data, the program IBM SPSS Statistics, version 25 was used. Inferential statistics were used, namely, Student t-test and one-way ANOVA (parametric tests), Spearman’s correlation coefficient, and the Chi-square test, to test the previously defined research hypotheses. Among the variables for which statistically significant relationships with burnout were found, the following stand out: the arithmetic mean (course average); the professional situation; participation in extracurricular activities; the practice and frequency of physical exercise; the choice and expectations regarding the course; the uncertainty felt about the professional future; the evaluation of the relationship with colleagues.