Duazary / Vol. 16, No. 1 - 2019 / 23 - 37
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21676/2389783X.2530
The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes
during a school semester
Cambios del burnout académico, engagement y la salud mental durante
un semestre de estudio
Short title: The academic burnout, engagement and mental health changes
Yuly Suárez-Colorado1
, Carmen Caballero-Domínguez2
Raimundo Abello-Llanos4
, Jorge Palacio-Sañudo3
,
Typolgy: Scientific and technological research articles
Cited in this article: Suárez-Colorado Y, Caballero-Domínguez C, Palacio-Sañudo J, Abello-Llanos R. The academic
burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester. Duazary. January 2019; 16(1): 21-37.
Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21676/2389783X.2530
Received on October 31, 2017
Accepted on December 27, 2017
Published online on September 01, 2018
ABSTRACT
A cross-sectional study was carried out, aimed to establish the academic burnout, engagement, and mental health
changes in engineering and health sciences students at the beginning and at the end of the semester studied. 145
students between ages 16-36, from a Colombian public university, were the participants evaluated from February to
June in 2015 by the Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale Symptom Inventory
90-R. The results indicate increase in exhaustion and cynicism, and reduction on dedication and depression during
the semester. Burnout is more severe in engineering at the beginning of the semester, while the engagement is greater
in health sciences. It is concluded that there are changes in exhaustion raise (exhaustion-cynicism), decrease in
engagement (dedication), and mental health, especially in the symptoms of depression; in addition, there is the
distinction of burnout-engagement in engineering and health sciences at the beginning of the semester.
Keywords: burnout; mental health; university.
RESUMEN
Se realizó un estudio transversal repetido, que tuvo por objetivo establecer los cambios del burnout académico,
engagement y la salud mental en estudiantes de ingenierías y ciencias de la salud al inicio y final de un semestre de
estudio. Los participantes fueron 145 estudiantes entre 16-36 años de una universidad pública colombiana, evaluados
1. Universidad del Magdalena. Santa Marta, Colombia. Correo: ysuarez@unimagdalena.edu.co - http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7715-3556
2. Universidad del Magdalena. Santa Marta, Colombia. Correo: ccaballero@unimagdalena.edu.co - http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3730-2750
3. Universidad del Norte. Barranquilla, Colombia. Correo: jpalacio@uninorte.edu.co - http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6971-7067
4. Universidad del Norte. Barranquilla, Colombia. Correo: rabello@uninorte.edu.co - http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5780-2798
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23
The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester
en Febrero 2015- Junio 2015 por el Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale
Inventario de Síntomas 90-R. Los resultados indican incrementos del agotamiento y cinismo, y reducción de la
dedicación y depresión durante el semestre; el burnout es más severo en ingenierías al inicio del semestre, mientras el
engagement es mayor en ciencias de la salud. Se concluye que existen cambios en ascenso del burnout (agotamientocinismo), descenso del engagement (dedicación) y la salud mental, sobre todo en los síntomas de depresión, además
de distinción del burnout-engagement en ingenierías y ciencias de la salud al comienzo de un semestre.
Palabras clave: agotamiento emocional; salud mental; universitarios.
INTRODUCTION
T
he students’ common activity is composed
by the compliance of attending classes and
performing tasks1. In the academic environment, some characteristics of the learning process are perceived as a source of stress2; that is,
the process of learning seen as the stress generator suggesting to the student a position between the responsibility and lacking resources
to meet the demands; but in addition, the work
overload on the student turns out to be equivalent to an actual load of the psychological and
social point of view3. In both cases individuals
can be receptors of psychosocial risks present in
the organization.
This exposure to psychosocial risks in the college
community promotes non-adaptive symptoms of
cognitive, somatic, emotional, social, behavioral
type of emotional exhaustion, cynical-self-abuse
attitudes, and beliefs of not being competent4.
These responses are common within the academic burnout syndrome, a psychological syndrome that produces symptomatic responses in
an insidious, negative way altering the psychosocial health or psychological well-being, until
it causes variations in academic performance,
in fulfilment5,6, perseverance in learning7, and
it can finally lead to withdrawal6. According to
Schaufeli et al8, it is also a persistent state.
Analyzing the trayectory of the burnout is essential to accurately understand its development or
24
grit9. Likewise, it allows an early appreciation10
and as a result, anticipating and treating burnout
at its beginnings before it turns into a long-lasting state.
According to Noh et al1, studies that examine
the process of development of academic burnout
of students are not abundant. The study of the
trajectory of academic burnout has been reflected through studies in school and university
contexts1, 11-14. These follow-ups on the origin
and evolution of academic burnout don’t show
a unified trajectory, on the contrary, they show
three time lines: some studies show the increase
of exhaustion, cynicism, and incompetence over
time; indicating their insidiousness and resistance to the dissolution. Other studies report its
stepping back over time, suggesting that it isn’t
entirely indissoluble. In addition, a static pattern
is recorded when there are no changes in a certain time cycle.
It is necessary to indicate that the study of the
changes of academic burnout has particular
different intervals between observations, generally from six months, one year, and more than
two years11,15. Whatever the interval between
observations is, it’s possible to recognize a pattern -static or fluctuating - of the dimensions of
academic burnout.
On the other hand, burnout research has focused on the exploration of engagement as neces-
Duazary / ISSN: 1794-5992 / Vol. 16, No. 1, enero - abril de 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21676/2389783X.2530
Yuly Suárez-Colorado, Carmen Caballero-Domínguez, Jorge Palacio-Sañudo, Raimundo Abello-Llanos
sary in the empowerment of academic work16,
17
. If burnout is the experience of wear and tear
related to studies, the engagement is related to
the psychological link18 or involvement19 in
relation to work, including academic work. In
the university context, studies have shown the
relevant role of engagement, where, unlike burnout, it has to be related to better performance,
gratification, intrinsic motivation, expectations
of self-efficiency, and flexibility, in addition,
it would have a predictive effect on academic
permanence20-22.
Burnout and engagement are part of an antagonistic model, ranging from attrition to attachment, where exhaustion is transformed into
force, and cynicism into dedication23. Precisely,
the heart of these constructs vigor /dedication
and exhaustion /cynicism is negatively related24.
Another aspect that stands out in the study of
engagement has been its exploration over time,
where the engagement has fluctuating properties25, 26. In these follow-ups of the engagement
trajectory, there is no unified line either since
studies show the increase in vigor, absorption,
and dedication; while others refer to the decrease
in vigor and absorption over time.
As indicated above, burnout and engagement
are states related to wellbeing or mental health2729
, where a higher level of involvement is related to minor problems mental health30,31, and
academic burnout has been related to anxious,
depressive, somatic, alcohol consumption, and
abuse of other substances symptoms32-35. In this
regard, the possibility that burnout is considered a risk factor for mental disorders has been
indicated, while the engagement could be considered as a protective factor for mental health in
university students. However, the manifestation
of anxiety-depression as proper disorders could
be caused by a diffusing, insidious, and permanent course of the syndrome35. With all of the
above, it is possible to consider academic burnout and emotional disturbances as a negative
and progressively self-reinforcing circuit36.
Likewise, it has been explored in students how
academic burnout is associated with dimensions
related to mental health problems such as somatization, compulsive obsession, interpersonal
susceptibility, hostility, phobia, and paranoid
and psychotic anxiety. The results show how the
severity of academic burnout is gradually to the
manifested symptomatology36.
Taking into account the divergences in the study
of the trajectory of academic burnout, engagement, and mental health, this study aims to establish the changes of these in engineering and
health sciences students at the beginning and
end of a semester.
METHOD AND MATERIALS
Type of research
A cross-sectional study with repeated measurements that observe an event at a fixed point
of time through several measurements; these
studies examine the individual changes in the
variables and not the changes due to age37. In the
present investigation the variables are observed
in two times: at the beginning (t1) and at the
end (t2) of an academic semester, with a three
month gap between them. The evaluations were
conducted in February and June 2015.
Participants
The population is composed of students from
the Universidad del Magdalena, a public university in northern Colombia. The students that
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25
The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester
participated were from first to tenth semester of
the engineering (industrial, systems, and electronics) and the health (psychology, medicine,
dentistry) faculties; subsequently, the subjects of
higher and lower academic failure were selected.
A probabilistic-layered sampling program was
carried out, and the final sample was with 145
subjects (health= 44, engineering= 101), between ages of 16-36 (Mean= 19.46, typical deviation= 3.27), 40% female and 60% male, and they
were present in the two stages of the evaluation.
Instruments
Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey
38
. It was adapted to Colombian university students39 to evaluate the three dimensions that categorize the academic burnout syndrome: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and efficacy. The scale
consists of 14 items that are scored in three levels
(high, medium, and low); and to establish the
presence of academic burnout, once the values of
the efficacy dimension have been inverted (inefficacy), the total of the items is added and according
to the theoretical value of the scale equal ranges
that are classified in five dimensions are established (without burnout, mild burnout, moderate
burnout, high burnout and clinical burnout).
The scale has demonstrated reliability by
Cronbach’s alpha suitable for exhaustion (0.72),
cynicism (0.71) and efficacy (0.79)38. In this
study the consistency test-test for the dimensions was between 0.70 and 0.79; that is, it presents a satisfactory level. (Table 1).
Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) Utrecht of Academic Engagement Scale38. It
evaluates the three dimensions of academic
engagement: vigor, absorption, and dedication.
26
The scale consists of seventeen items that are
scored in three levels (high, medium and low);
and to establish the presence of the engagement,
the total of the items is added; and according
to the theoretical value of the scale, five equal
ranges are established (without engagement,
light engagement, moderate engagement, high
engagement, and engaged).
The scale registers reliability for Cronbach’s
alpha suitable for vigor (0.91), absorption (0.76)
and dedication (0.68) 40. In this study the consistency test-test for the dimensions was found
between 0.64 and 0.87, showing a satisfactory
level (Table 1).
Symptom Inventory (SCL-90-R) 41,42. It evaluates mental health-related symptoms in nine
primary dimensions (somatizations, obsessions
and compulsions, interpersonal sensitivity,
depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety,
paranoid ideation, and psychoticism), and three
global indexes of psychological distress (global
index of severity, positive index of discomfort,
and total of positive symptoms). The total scale
consists of ninety items and for each dimension,
items divided by the number of questions are
added to subsequently convert it to a T score,
which determines on a nominal scale whether
or not there is risk according to gender.
The scale presents reliability by Cronbach’s alpha
suitable for somatization (0.84), obsessive-compulsiveness (0.80), interpersonal sensitivity
(0.82), depression (0.88), anxiety (0.83) hostility
(0.76), phobic anxiety (0.69), paranoid ideation
(0.74), psychoticism (0.75) and global severity
(0.97) 42. In this study, the test-test consistency
for the dimensions was between 0.60 and 0.88,
reflecting a satisfactory level (Table 1).
Duazary / ISSN: 1794-5992 / Vol. 16, No. 1, enero - abril de 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21676/2389783X.2530
Yuly Suárez-Colorado, Carmen Caballero-Domínguez, Jorge Palacio-Sañudo, Raimundo Abello-Llanos
Table 1. Consistency of the Instruments in the two measurements
Instruments
Maslach Burnout
Inventory
Utrecht Work
Engagement Scale
Mental Health
- SCL-90-R
Exhaustion
Cynicism
Inefficiency
Vigor
Alpha Subscales
t1 t2
0,71
0,76
0,70
0,79
0,77
0,77
0,74
0,74
1,2,10,11,12
3,8,13,14
4,5,6,7,9
5,8,9,12,15,16
Absorption
0,64
0,71
1,2,3,10,11,13
Dedication
Somatizations
Obs-Compulsions
Interpersonal-Sesitivity
Depression
Anxiety
Hostility
Phobic Anxiety
Paranoid Ideation
Psychoticism
0,76
0,82
0,85
0,76
0,88
0,84
0,77
0,60
0,77
0,77
0,87
0,82
0,80
0,79
0,83
0,82
0,72
0,70
0,70
0,86
4,6,7,14,17
1,4,12,27,40,42,48,49,52,53,56,58
3,9,10,28,38,45,46,51,55,65
6,21,34,36,37,41,61,69,73
5,14,15,20,22,26,29,30,31,32,54,71,79
2,17,23,33,39,57,72,78,80,86
11,24,63,67,74,81
13,25,47,50,75,82
8,18,43,68,76,83
7,16,35,62,77,84,85,87,88,90
Subscales
Process
Starting the semester 2015-I (t1) there was the
first meeting with the engineering faculty and
health sciences students, to whom the agreement was presented, explaining in detail the
project’s information and applying instrumentation, in a three-month interval. At the end of
the semester 2015-II, students who participated
in t1 and who were willing to participate in the
second measurement phase (t2) were located,
proceeding to re-apply the instruments.
Subsequently, the design of the database, the
systematization of the questionnaires, and the
statistical analysis were also carried out with
the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS). The Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used
to determine the distribution of academic bur-
Items
nout (t1) Z = 0.240 p <0.000; academic burnout (t2) Z = 0.169 p <0.000; engagement (t1)
Z = 0.099 p <0.001 engagement (t2) Z = 0.179
p <0.000, mental health (t1) somatizations Z
= 0.121 p <0.000, obsessions-compulsions Z
= 0.078 p <0.030, interpersonal sensitivity Z =
0.115 p <0.000, depression Z = 0,112 p <0,000,
anxiety Z = 0.082 p <0,020, hostility Z = 0.180 p
<0,000, anxiety phobic Z = 0.164 p <0,000, paranoid ideation Z = 0.129 p <0.000, psychoticism
Z = 0.129 p <0.000; mental health (t2) somatizations Z = 0.111 p <0.000, obsessions-compulsions Z = 0.068 p <0.093, interpersonal sensitivity Z = 0.093 p <0.004, depression Z = 0.112
p <0.000, anxiety Z = 0.111 p <0.000, hostility
Z = 0.132 p <0.000, phobic anxiety Z = 0.157 p
<0.000, paranoid ideation Z = 0.115 p <0.000,
psychoticism Z = 0.103 p <0.000. Because a non-
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The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester
normal distribution was used, the non-parametric Wilcoxon test was chosen for the analysis of
differences, where the Z value, with significance
level greater than 0.05, indicates the rejection of
the research hypothesis.
Declaration on ethical aspects
This study adapted the norms established in
the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975 and the
Resolution 8430 of 1993 by the Health Ministry
of Colombia for the investigation with human
beings. The informed consent was presented
and the welfare and integrity of the participants
was protected through confidentiality, right to
non-participation, withdrawal, and return of
results. The research was endorsed by the ethics
committee of the Universidad Del Magdalena
REC-029-14.
RESULTS
The level of general academic burnout at the beginning of the semester showed a significant increase
compared to the observation at the end of the
semester (Z = -4,800 p <0,000). When analyzing
the tridimensional composition of burnout, statistically significant changes in emotional exhaustion and cynicism are identified. The level of
general engagement showed changes with respect
to the initial and final levels (Z = -2,042 p <0.041),
and from its three-dimensional configuration, the
most significant changes were observed in the
dedication dimension; which decreased in the
second observation (Table 2). The symptoms related to mental health didn’t show significant changes except for the subscale of depression, which
decreased in the second observation.
Table 2. Differences in Burnout, engagement, and mental health at the beginning and the end of a
semester studied.
Variables
Subscales
Exhaustion
Burnout
Cynicism
Inefficiency
Vigor
Engagement
Absorcion
Dedication
28
Time
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
Average Range
62.53
71.65
51.82
71.36
71.91
66.86
37.84
35.84
38.37
35.81
29.83
24.87
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Z
p
-3.738
0.000*
-5,205
0.000*
-1.195
0.232
-1.210
0.226
-0.278
0.781
-2.637
0.008*
Yuly Suárez-Colorado, Carmen Caballero-Domínguez, Jorge Palacio-Sañudo, Raimundo Abello-Llanos
Table 2. Continuation
Variables
Subscales
Somatizations
Obs-Compulsion
Interpersonal-Sesitivity
Depression
Mental Health
Anxiety
Hostility
Phobic Anxiety
Paranoid Ideation
Psychoticism
Time
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
t1
t2
Average Range
65.11
74.82
69.63
72.43
60.78
74.22
71.48
62.78
65.84
70.86
64.38
65.43
61.83
68.02
65.41
76.20
61.20
75.11
Z
p
-0.784
0.433
-0.015
0.988
-1.001
0.317
-2.637
0.008*
-0.965
0.334
-1.838
0.066
-0.700
0.484
-0.197
0.844
-0.806
0.420
When exploring the levels of academic burnout according to the academic faculty, progress is shown
in the levels of academic burnout severity as the academic semester passes by. At the end of the semester there was an increase in clinical burnout compared to a smaller number of students without symptoms of academic burnout (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Burnout levels in the group of Engineering and Health Sciences at the beginning and end of
a semester studied.
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The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester
The engagement score according to the academic faculty in both t1 and t2 doesn’t present large variations. The frequency of moderate-high engagement in t1 and t2 for both faculties is highlighted. The
results indicate that at the end of the semester there is a greater number of “engaged” or highly committed students, with respect to a lower number of students without commitment or with slight engagement at the beginning of the semester (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Levels of engagement in groups of Engineering and Health Sciences at the beginning and
end of a semester of classes.
Regarding mental health, there is a greater frequency of risk in the subscales of positive symptoms, global severity, and malaise rate, specifically in the faculty of engineering in both t1 and
t2. (Figure 3).
The nonparametric differences tests for independent samples indicate that the academic
burnout in t1 is expressed in a distinctive way
in the faculty of health sciences and engineering; however, the academic burnout in t2,
manifests in the same way for both faculties.
While for the engagement, the tests of non-
30
parametric differences for independent samples, indicate that the engagement in t1 is
manifested in greater measure in the students
of health sciences, registering statistically significant differences. Nevertheless, in t2 there
are no differences between both Faculties In
terms of mental health according to the academic faculty, the nonparametric differences
tests for independent samples show that there
are no differences between t1 and t2 in positive
symptoms. There are also no significant differences in the subscales of global severity and
malaise index (Table 3).
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Yuly Suárez-Colorado, Carmen Caballero-Domínguez, Jorge Palacio-Sañudo, Raimundo Abello-Llanos
Figure 3. Positive symptoms in students of Engineering and Health Sciences at the beginning and end
of a semester studied.
Table 3. Academic Burnout, engagement and mental health according to the faculty, at the beginning
and end of a semester studied.
Variables
Academic
Burnout
Time
t1
t2
t1
Engagement
t2
Positive
Symptoms
t1
t2
t1
Global Severity
t2
Faculty
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
Health Sciences
Average
Range
78.81
59.67
75.21
67.93
66,73
87.39
73.65
71.51
74.49
69.58
76.73
64.43
74.14
70.38
77.16
63.44
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Z
Sig
-2,524
0.012*
-0,96
0.337
-2,723
0.006*
-0,282
0.778
-0.647
0.517
-1.622
0.105
-0.497
0.619
-1.809
0.071
31
The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester
Table 3. Continuation.
Variables
Discomfort
Index
Time
Faculty
Engineering
Health Sciences
Engineering
t1
t2
DISCUSSION
The objective of the study was to identify changes in academic burnout, engagement and
mental health during an academic semester in
engineering and health sciences students. The
results indicate changes in the academic burnout between the beginning (t1) and final (t2)
of an academic semester, suggesting the temporary increase of the syndrome. These changes originate specifically in the increase in the
severity of emotional exhaustion and cynicism
towards academic work, consistent with studies
in schoolchildren and college students 1, 11, 12, 14.
From the three-dimensional theory, the profile
of the academic burnout configuration is characterized by a course / curve in which subjects
exhaust themselves more and express greater
cynical attitudes. This means that the exhaustion and cynicism show to be changing under
its insidious character reflected in the severity,
but, on the contrary, the thoughts of ineffectiveness seem to be preserved when not presenting changes during the academic semester. It
is important to note that exhausted and cynical
university students may be at risk for the development of the syndrome over time, based on the
existence of two affected dimensions.
On the other hand, the vulnerability for the
development of academic burnout can also be
increased by the psychosocial risks of the uni-
32
Average
Range
77.16
63.44
76.20
Z
Sig
-0.069
0.945
-1.391
0.164
versity or family organization, and by personal
conditions such as failure in the strategies to face
the demands for problem solutions, in the searching of social or professional support, religious
orientation or positive reassessment 43.
Regarding engagement, at a general level, the
results show changes between the beginning (t1)
and end (t2) of an academic semester behaving
as opposed to academic burnout, but in particular there is a change in the dedication of students
regarding academic work at the end, precisely
for the t2 where a decrease in this dimension
is observed, which agrees with a similar study
carried out by Llorens-Gumbao and SalanovaSoria 25, but in secondary school teachers.
The literature points out that after a burnout progresses in exhaustion-cynicism, expressions of
strengths and personal virtues are affected, and
the student’s dedication to the university decreases. Consistent with the idea of González and
Rubio 44, it is considered that engagement is an
optimizing resource for psychosocial health, even
preventing the burnout. At this point, it is important to consider the individual differences in students’ engagement and the experience of attrition.
It has been reported that they can be explained by
a passion for study, which could be beyond autonomous and controlled motivation 45.
Meanwhile, in relation to mental health, the
symptoms evaluated as somatizations, obsessions and compulsions, interpersonal sensiti-
Duazary / ISSN: 1794-5992 / Vol. 16, No. 1, enero - abril de 2019
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Yuly Suárez-Colorado, Carmen Caballero-Domínguez, Jorge Palacio-Sañudo, Raimundo Abello-Llanos
vity, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid
ideation, psychoticism, do not present changes
from t1 (beginning) to t2 (end) of a semester
in agreement with another study 46, likewise,
the depression that indicates decreasing for t2
(final), is similar to the report of Wang, Chow,
Hofkens and Salmela-Aro 14. This decrease could
be explained from the socio-family support and
even from the support of classmates, conditions
that influence mental health but can do so from
its role in the academic burnout experience
containing its severity and increasing the commitment to face the academic challenges 47,48.
It is important to detail the analysis of academic
burnout, engagement and mental health in the
Faculties of Engineering and Health Sciences,
taking into account the characteristics of the teaching-learning process. The configuration of the
level of academic burnout is evidenced to a greater extent in students of a higher level engineering faculty of and clinical level in the health case.
These students would find themselves under particular characteristics at a curricular level, work
dynamics, demands and academic challenges, in
addition, this is the faculty with the highest drop
out level at this university. However, the statistical tests of differences indicate that, although the
burnout at the beginning of the semester is more
severe in the Faculty of Engineering, at the end of
the semester it does not present significant differences between the faculties, its severity is statistically independent. Therefore, for this sample,
it is not the characteristics of university careers,
but the dynamics of overload and tension of a
semester about to end, which seems to affect the
evolution of academic burnout. Precisely, Kim
and Lee49 indicate the relationship between the
load or academic requirement with the presence
of academic burnout.
The general levels of engagement according to
the academic faculty show that the evaluated
university students respond to academic work
with moderate and high levels of engagement,
without presenting wide variations between
Engineering and Health Sciences. Certainly,
higher proportions of engagement are registered at the end (t2) of the semester, especially in
health sciences. These results indicate that the
expression of the engagement may be subject to
the particular dynamics of the university organization, where there are demands for a certain
performance for the permanence in the institution. Low engagement could represent expulsion
due to poor academic performance. The statistical tests indicate that at the beginning there is
a lower state of engagement in Engineering, but
at the end between faculties there are no significant changes. This continues to reaffirm their
dual relationship with academic burnout.
In the case of symptoms related to mental health,
the engineering faculty has a number of subjects
who report the presence of symptoms. However,
there are no statistically significant variations
in positive symptoms, global severity and discomfort index between faculties in t1 and t2. The
symptoms related to mental health as they are not
distinctive among the academic faculties could
be in line with the presence of burnout, independently of the dynamics of the university career.
It can be concluded that there are changes in the
syndrome of academic burnout, engagement
and symptoms of depression at the beginning
and end of an academic semester. When comparing the variations between faculties, although
at the beginning of a semester the burnout is
more severe in engineering, at the end of the
semester, regardless of the faculty, students in
both Engineering and Health Sciences have a
higher level of burnout. Likewise, the engagement behaves in the opposite direction to burnout, although initially there is less engagement
in Engineering, in the end regardless of the abi-
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21676/2389783X.2530
33
The academic burnout, engagement, and mental health changes during a school semester
lity this variable decreases. Finally, there are no
differences between faculties in positive symptoms, global severity and malaise index referring
to mental health.
The study presents some limitations such as the
non-equivalence in the participation of students
of Engineering and Health Sciences, as well as
the data collection only in two moments, so that
it would not be enough two follow-ups to explain
in depth what the evolution of the academic
burnout in the university context is. However, it
is relevant given that the distinctive characteristics at the beginning and end of a semester could
suggest the course of academic burnout in terms
of its origin and evolution in the occupational
dynamics of students in higher education. It is
recommended to direct the research towards the
longitudinal designs with four or more followups over at least one year and with wider intervals between observations that allow the understanding of the start, development, maintenance
or extinction of academic burnout, engagement
and the related symptoms with mental health.
SPECIAL THANKS
Thanks to the funding entities of this project: Colciencias publication 677-2013 and
Universidad Del Norte de Barranquilla,
Colombia. Also, thanks for the support in the
execution of the research to the Universidad Del
Magdalena De Santa Marta, Colombia.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST CONFLICTS
The authors declare that there does not exist a
conflict interest.
34
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