Stress from Academics, Stress from Interpersonal Relationships and Academic Burnout Among Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

The current study examined relations between stress and academic burnout, and the moderating role of adaptive academic coping between stress from academics and academic burnout among adolescents. Potential stress leading to academic burnout included stress from academics and stress from interpersonal relationships (stress from teacher, parental, peer relationships). Five-hundred and eighteen students (48.26% male, 14 to 15 years old) from one middle school in China participated in this study. Structural equation modeling indicated that (1) academic burnout was significantly predicted by stress from academics and stress from parental relationships, but was not significantly predicted by stress from teacher and peer relationships, and (2) adaptive academic coping significantly moderated the association between stress from academics and academic burnout, after controlling for the effects of sex, age, socioeconomic status, and grade ranking. This study provided insight into which types of stress perceived by Chinese adolescents (e.g., stress from academics and interpersonal relationships) predicted academic burnout, and how adaptive academic coping might mitigate links between academic stress and academic burnout. Recommendations of the current study are discussed in terms of government, school and teacher, and parental aspects.