Development and Validation of Korean Academic Burnout Scale for Elementary School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to 1) investigate the characteristics of burnout of Korean elementary school students and 2) develop and validate the Korean Academic Burnout Scale-Elementary School Students (KABSESS). Fifty-one behavioral descriptions of burnout extracted through a preliminary survey, focus group interview, and literature review were administered to a sample of 531 elementary students of the 4th to 6th grade in Gyeonggi Province. The results of an exploratory factor analysis indicated that the structure of the burnout of Korean elementary school students consists of seven factors (i.e., inefficacy, avoidance, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, physical exhaustion, antipathy and cognitive exhaustion), and this structure of final 28 items was confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis. The KABS-ESS showed a correlation of .771 with a representative academic burnout scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, and -.561 with the academic engagement scale, indicating that both convergent and discriminant validities were confirmed. Furthermore, all fit indices of the structural equation model of the Schaufeli and Bakker`s job demands-resources in an academic setting were satisfactory, and the possibility of the validity generalization of the model was supported. The demand variables predicting academic burnout and engagement were academic overload and parental pressure, while self-resilience, self-regulated learning strategies, and parental and the teacher`s support were identified as the resource variables. Lastly, the implications and future direction of the present study were discussed.