Children, Vol. 10, Pages 243: Prevalence of Burnout Syndrome and Fear of COVID-19 among Adolescent University Students

Children, Vol. 10, Pages 243: Prevalence of Burnout Syndrome and Fear of COVID-19 among Adolescent University Students

Children doi: 10.3390/children10020243

Authors: Raimundo Aguayo-Estremera Gustavo R. Cañadas Luis Albendín-García Elena Ortega-Campos Tania Ariza Carolina S. Monsalve-Reyes Emilia Inmaculada De la Fuente-Solana

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of burnout syndrome in adolescents entering university studies, to detect differences in burnout levels, personality factors and fear of coronavirus in a pandemic context due to COVID-19. A cross-sectional predictive study was performed with a sample that comprised 134 individuals in their first year of a Psychology degree at Spanish universities. The Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale were applied. The prevalence of burnout is estimated according to three methods: Maslach and Jackson’s severity classification, Golembiewski´s phase model and Maslach et al.´s profile model. The estimates show significant differences. The results indicated that between 9 and 21% of students were at risk of developing burnout. On the other hand, students who reported having suffered psychological consequences of the pandemic showed greater emotional exhaustion, neuroticism and fear of COVID-19, and a lower level of personal accomplishment than those who did not suffer such consequences. Neuroticism was the only significant predictor for all burnout dimensions, and fear of COVID-19 did not contribute to any of them.