School burnout can manifest in students in different ways. Some might feel tired or anxious, while in others, burnout may manifest as a negative attitude towards school. Early detection of the various signs and symptoms of burnout is important, as it is likely that a student experiencing burnout symptoms in one area will later experience them in other areas, too.

Conducted at the University of Eastern Finland, a recent study following more than 200 Finnish general upper secondary school students over three years explored associations of students’ perceived and received support, student engagement, and gender with the different dimensions of school burnout, i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy.

The study found that exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy were associated with one another in the first year of general upper secondary school. The more school burnout increased in one of these dimensions, the more it subsequently increased in the other two dimensions as well.

According to the first author of the study, Doctoral Researcher Fiia Söderholm, of the three dimensions of burnout, exhaustion was highest in the first year, remaining relatively stable during the three years of general upper secondary school. In contrast, cynicism and inadequacy, which were initially lower, increased over the years.

The study also found differences in the associations between student engagement and school burnout. If a student was emotionally engaged in their studies, this was a predictor of less exhaustion and fewer feelings of inadequacy. If a student’s engagement was related to their personal goals and seeing school as meaningful for their future, this was a predictor of less cynicism.

Girls experienced more exhaustion and feelings of inadequacy than boys, but there were no gender differences with regard to cynicism.

Burnout starts already in lower secondary school?

The study also found that support received in lower secondary school was not in any way associated with school burnout experienced in general upper secondary school. However, there were associations between school burnout and support received in general upper secondary school. The more often a student felt they received the support they needed for, e.g., learning, the less burnout they experienced in the first year of general upper secondary school. However, this support was not enough to prevent an increase in burnout in the second and third years.

According to Söderholm, it is possible that students are experiencing burnout already when entering general upper secondary school, as exhaustion is relatively high already at that time. She notes that it is important to consider whether there are factors in lower secondary school that increase the risk of burnout. Effective flow of information between lower secondary and general upper secondary schools is also particularly important.

Properly targeted support in general upper secondary school

General upper secondary school gets increasingly challenging in the second and the third year, and it is important to acknowledge these growing demands as a potential cause of burnout. The subject matter becomes more challenging, expectations of independent study grow, and the approaching matriculation examination puts its pressures on students. Previous studies by Söderholm and colleagues have shown that student engagement also weakens after the first year.

According to Söderholm, the differences and challenges of the different years of general upper secondary school should be better acknowledged, and support measures should be targeted accordingly to prevent the development of burnout. The role of other structural factors should be considered as well, including the curricular demands set for students in lower and general upper secondary school, and the decisive role of the matriculation examination in university admissions.

However, Söderholm emphasises that sufficient support should be easily and readily available to general upper secondary school students, considering their individual needs. In the future, it is important to investigate what kind of support general upper secondary school students want, and specifically from whom.

Research article:
Söderholm, F., Viljaranta, J., Hirvonen, R., Tuominen, H., Lappalainen, K., & Holopainen, L. (2024). The development of exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy in general upper secondary education: perceived and received support, student engagement, and gender as predictors. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2024.2419066

MoLeWe research group:

https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/group/motivation-learning-and-well-being-molewe-uef/
https://www.molewe.net/