Burnout, perfectionism and academic success

Sagorijevanje kao konstrukt u istraživanjima najčešće se veže uz pomagačka zanimanja (Jacobs i Dodd, 2003). Međutim, postoje podaci prema kojima studenti također iskazuju simptome sagorijevanja. U prilog tomu ide i povećanje zahtjevnosti i konkurentnosti studijskih programa koji dovode do povećanja stresa i pritiska kod studenata upisanih u pojedine studijske programe. Istraživanja su pokazala da je perfekcionizam povezan s doživljavanjem stresa, a sve više ih dokazuje i njegovu povezanost s akademskim uspjehom studenata. Stoga je osnovni cilj ovoga istraživanja utvrditi opću razinu sagorijevanja uz spolne razlike. Uz navedeno, htjeli smo provjeriti povezanost sagorijevanja, perfekcionizma, strategija suočavanja sa stresom i akademskog uspjeha. Konačno, htjeli smo vidjeti je jesu li sagorijevanje, perfekcionizam i strategije suočavanja sa stresom značajni prediktori u spremnosti studenata na traženje stručne pomoći. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 466 studenata hrvatskih sveučilišta. Sudionici su ispunili upitnik općih podataka, Oldenburški upitnik sagorijevanja, skraćeni Upitnik strategija suočavanja sa stresom, Ljestvicu pozitivnog i negativnog perfekcionizma te Upitnik stavova prema traženju stručne pomoći. Podaci studenata prikupljeni su online upitnikom koji je proslijeđen putem maila i studentskih grupa na društvenoj mreži Facebook. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da hrvatski studenti iskazuju umjerenu razinu sagorijevanja, neovisno o spolu i razinu studija. Također, studentice su u prosjeku imale bolji prosjek ocjena, bile spremnije su potražiti stručnu pomoć te koristile adaptivne i maladaptivne strategije suočavanja sa stresom više od studenata. Nadalje, utvrđena je statistički značajna pozitivna povezanost sagorijevanja s negativnim perfekcionizmom i maladaptivnim strategijama suočavanja. Između pozitivnog perfekcionizma, akademskog uspjeha i adaptivnih strategija suočavanja i sagorijevanja potvrđena je negativna povezanost. Sukladno tome, negativni perfekcionizam pokazao se pozitivno povezan s maladaptivnim strategijama suočavanja sa stresom i obje dimenzije sindroma sagorijevanja. Što se tiče doprinosa sagorijevanja, perfekcionizma i strategija suočavanja sa stresom u objašnjenu spremnosti na traženje stručne pomoći, objašnjeno je 12,2% varijance traženja stručne pomoći. Značajnim prediktorima u spremnosti na traženje stručne pomoći pokazale su se adaptivne i maladaptivne strategije suočavanja sa stresom te pozitivni perfekcionizam. Sagorijevanje i negativni perfekcionizam nisu se pokazali kao statistički značajnim prediktori. Iako dosad neistražen konstrukt, pruža okvir za nastavak istraživanja na studentskoj populaciji.Research on burnout is mostly focused on people with auxiliary occupations. (Jacobs i Dodd, 2003). However, some data shows that students can also experience some symptoms of burnout. In addition, study programs have increased in their complexity and competitiveness, which may lead to increased stress and pressure on students enrolled in individual study programs. Research has shown that perfectionism is associated with stress and stressful experiences and there is a growing body of evidence showing its association with academic success. Therefore, the basic objective of this study is to determine the general level of burnout with regards to gender differences. Additionally, we wanted to see the relationship between burnout, perfectionism, coping strategies and academic success. Finally, we wanted to see whether burnout, perfectionism, and coping strategies are significant predictors of student readiness to seek professional help. The participants were 466 students from Croatian universities. Participants completed sociodemographic questionnaire, Oldenburg burnout inventory, the brief version of COPE inventory, Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale and Attitudes toward seeking professional help scale. Data was collected online via email and Facebook groups. Research findings suggested that Croatian students experience moderate level of burnout, regardless of gender and level of education. Also, female students showed better academic success, were more likely to seek professional help, and used adaptive and maladaptive strategies to cope with stress, when compared to male students. Furthermore, a statistically significant positive correlation of burnout with negative perfectionism and maladaptive coping strategies was established. There was a negative correlation between positive perfectionism, academic success, adaptive coping strategies and burnout. Consequently, negative perfectionism has been shown to be positively associated with maladaptive coping strategies and both dimensions of burnout. When it comes to contribution of burnout, perfectionism and coping strategies in explaining the readiness to seek professional help, 12.2% of the variance of seeking professional help have been explained. Significant predictors of readiness to seek professional help were adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies and positive perfectionism. Burnout and negative perfectionism did not prove to be statistically significant predictors. Even though the readiness to seek professional help is yet unexplored construct within student population, within this research it has provided a framework for future research