Burnout and Engagement in University Students

TLDR

The study examined burnout and engagement in 1,661 university students from Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the expected three‑factor structures of the MBI‑Student and UWES‑Student scales, but most MBI loadings were non‑invariant across countries, while UWES loadings were largely invariant; burnout and engagement subscales were negatively correlated, and both efficacy and vigor positively predicted academic performance.

Abstract

This study examines burnout and engagement—the hypothesized opposite of burnout—in university students from Spain ( n = 623), Portugal ( n = 727), and the Netherlands ( n = 311). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the expected three-factor structures of the adapted versions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) for students (including Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Reduced Efficacy) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) for students (including Vigor, Dedication, and Absorption) fitted to the data of each sample. However, a rigorous test revealed that most factor loadings of the MBI were not invariant across all samples. Results with the UWES were slightly better, indicating invariance of factor loadings of Absorption in all samples and of Vigor in two of the three samples. Furthermore, as hypothesized, the burnout and engagement subscales were negatively correlated. Finally, irrespective of country, Efficacy and Vigor were positively related to academic performance, that is, the number of passed exams relative to the total number of exams in the previous term.