School climate and academic burnout in medical students: a moderated mediation model of collective self-esteem and psychological capital

Yu et al. BMC Psychology (2023) 11:77 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01121-6 BMC Psychology Open Access RESEARCH School climate and academic burnout in medical students: a moderated mediation model of collective self-esteem and psychological capital Wanwan Yu1†, Wenjun Yao2†, Ming Chen1, Hongqing Zhu2 and Jing Yan3* Abstract Background The study burnout of medical students is more and more serious, which directly affects the study style of university and the learning quality of students. This has aroused the high attention of researchers and universities. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of the influence of school climate on academic burnout among medical students in Chinese cultural context. Methods 2411 medical students (50.52% female; mean age = 19.55, SD = 1.41, rang = 17–24 years) were investigated with psychological environment questionnaire, collective self-esteem scale, psychological capital scale and academic burnout scale. The data were analyzed by using a moderated mediation model with SPSS and the Process 4.0 macro. Results The results revealed that: (1) school climate had a significant negative predictive effect on academic burnout among medical students controlling for gender, grade and age (B = -0.40, p < 0.001). (2) Collective selfesteem played a partial mediating role in school climate and academic burnout (indirect effect = -0.28, 95% CI = [-0.32,-0.25], accounting for 52.83%). (3) The first and second half of the indirect effect of school climate on medical students’ academic burnout were moderated by psychological capital (B = 0.03, p < 0.01; B = -0.09, p < 0.001).High level of psychological capital can enhance the link between school climate and collective self-esteem as well as the link between self-esteem and academic burnout. Conclusion Creating a good school atmosphere and improving the level of collective self-esteem and psychological capital are beneficial to improve the academic burnout of medical students. Keywords School climate, Collective self-esteem, Psychological capital, Academic burnout, Medical students † Wanwan Yu and Wenjun Yao these authors have contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence: Jing Yan 1 The Second Clinical Medical School, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China 2 Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China 3 School of Health Service Management, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 30032, China © The Author(s) 2023. 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The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Yu et al. BMC Psychology (2023) 11:77 Page 2 of 11 Introduction Academic burnout is a negative attitude and behaviour of students who are bored with learning due to pressure or lack of interest in learning [1]. Its negative effects are mainly reflected in physical and mental health (e.g. insomnia, weakness), emotional adaptation (e.g. anxiety, depression) and behaviour (e.g. aggression, dropping out of school) [2–4]. Medical students are more prone to academic burnout due to their long training cycles, course content and heavy study load as a reservoir of healthcare professionals [5]. A meta-analysis study showed that the detection rate of academic burnout among medical students was about 44.2% [6]. Therefore, it is important to explore the factors influencing academic burnout among medical students and its mechanisms of action to promote the quality of learning and positive development of medical students. [20]. Previous study on the relationship between school climate and academic burnout has focused on primary and secondary school students, and less on medical students. However, there is an inherent consistency between university campuses and primary and secondary school campuses, mainly in terms of school norms and discipline, teacher-student relationships, peer relationships, and physical environment, which are all important components of school climate [21]. Accordingly, this study proposes hypothesis 1: School climate negatively predicts academic burnout among medical students. Although the relationship between school climate and academic burnout has been partially verified by researchers, the exact mechanisms of the relationship are still largely unclear. Therefore, the question of how school climate “influences” medical student burnout needs to be further explored. School climate and academic burnout The mediating role of collective self-esteem Schools are important micro-systems that influence the growth and development of individuals in addition to the family [7]. They are not only places where individuals learn and develop cognitively, but are also important contextual factors for the formation of positive social relationships and for their emotional and behavioral development [8]. As a result, a growing body of research has focused on the impact of school climate on the physical and psychological development of individuals [9–11]. School climate, also known as the school psychological environment, refers to the relatively persistent and stable features of the environment that students experience and influence their behaviour [12], including the norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching practices and organizational structures of the school environment [13]. Numerous studies have shown that school climate is strongly associated with healthy adolescent development, with the more positive the perceived school climate, the less suicidal ideation, depression, bullying, etc. [14, 15]. According to the Stage-Environment Matching Theory, when the school climate meets the developmental needs of students, it strengthens the connection between individuals and the school which could promote good development; on the contrary, when the school climate does not meet the developmental needs of students, they are prone to psychological and behavioral problems [16, 17]. A positive school climate in terms of teacherstudent relationships, peer relationships a (...truncated)