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.

Job burnout among Israeli healthcare workers during the first months of COVID-19 pandemic: The role of emotion regulation strategies and psychological distress

“…Findings from the current study are in agreement with previous results showing an association between levels of worrying and job burnout among healthcare residents [80]. A link between worry and burnout was also found among highly demanding professions, such as athletes [81] and university students [82]. Worry involves concerns about upcoming events and distress that is yet to come.…”

“…Chaukos et al [80] showed higher levels of worry among healthcare residents that have also reported high levels of burnout. This is in line with studies showing a similar relation between worry and burnout among highly demanding professions, such as athletes [81] and university students [82]. Consistently, prior studies have also suggested a strong relationship between trait anxiety and burnout [83][84][85].…”