The Relationship of Emotions and Burnout to Medical Students’ Academic Performance

Abstract

Phenomenon: Medical school curricula challenge even the most adept learner, potentially leading to feelings of burnout. When faced with uncertainties in a new curriculum, confidence in achieving academic goals may be threatened. We previously found associations between academic performance and pride, hope, anxiety, and shame in medical students. Are these emotions still associated in the context of an evolving curriculum? Approach: All 1st-and 2nd-year medical students were invited to participate in a survey study (n ¼ 264). Year 1 students were in the first semester of the new curriculum. The Hope, Pride, Shame, and Anxiety subscales of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) General Survey for Students were administered in fall 2017. Academic performance (semester overall percentage) was matched to participants completing all 4 questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the results. Findings: Response rates for those who completed every survey administered was 18.5%. Combined data from the classes revealed relationships between academic performance with MBI subscale-professional efficacy (r ¼ .577), hope (r ¼ .497), pride (r ¼ .411), anxiety (r ¼ À.307), and shame (r ¼ À.402). Upon analyzing data from each class, professional efficacy (M1: r ¼ .535; M2: r ¼ .674) and pride (M1: r ¼ .591; M2: r ¼ .450) were correlated to academic performance. In a stepwise regression model, professional efficacy was the only predictor of academic performance (B ¼ .560, t ¼ 3.82, R 2 ¼ .31). Insights: When faced with challenges from medical school, positive emotions strengthen self-efficacy, allowing students to identify strategies to accomplish academic goals. Although it is important to acknowledge the emotions that students experience, our finding that professional efficacy was the most significant predictor of academic performance suggests the need for strategies to enhance self-efficacy. Use of flipped classrooms or problem-based learning offers opportunities for cognitive appraisal to foster their self-efficacy.

A Structural Equation Model of Achievement Emotions, Coping Strategies and Engagement-Burnout in Undergraduate Students: A Possible Underlying Mechanism in Facets of Perfectionism

“…These results are consistent with prior evidence that has established associations between positive emotionality and self-regulation, and between negative emotionality and a lack of selfregulation [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]. Results presented in this research study also reveal the specific strategic coping behaviors that are associated with students' emotions and their ultimate emotional state of engagement vs. burnout, suggesting that coping strategies are a meta-emotional variable, or, as their name implies, a behavioral strategy, adjusted or maladjusted, for managing emotions.…”

“…Previous research has reported factors that predict and predispose both constructs [52]. Achievement emotions (positive vs. negative) have been differentially associated with burnout [53], and engagement has been shown to favor metacognitive self-regulation and knowledge construction [54]. More recently, the duality has been conceptualized as positive learning or engagement vs. negative learning or burnout [55].…”

“…First, emotions frequently experienced by college students were identified [25]. Second, the emotions were classified along two dimensions, each having two possible values: valence (positive vs. negative) and activation (activating vs. deactivating) (see [53,54]). Four categories of emotions result from the combination of these values, and reflect how emotions affect learning, achievement, personality development, and health.…”

Applying the SRL vs. ERL Theory to the Knowledge of Achievement Emotions in Undergraduate University Students

“…Previous research has reported factors that predict and probabilize both (Uludag and Yaratan, 2010). Thus, it has been found that academic emotions (positive vs. negative) are differentially associated with burnout (Burr and Dallaghan, 2019). It has also been found that engagement probabilizes metacognitive self-regulation and knowledge construction (Khosa and Volet, 2014).…”

Student Pharmacist Perspectives on Factors That Influence Wellbeing During Pharmacy School

“…5,6 In contrast, positive wellbeing is associated with improved mental health outcomes, academic self-efficacy, and better academic performance. [7][8][9][10][11] Studies investigating student pharmacist wellbeing have largely explored the impact of grit, resilience, selfesteem, self-awareness, and mindfulness. [12][13][14][15][16] Although individual factors likely play a role in student pharmacist wellbeing, systems factors may be the primary drivers of wellbeing, as has been suggested for the pharmacy workplace and in other fields.…”