Relationship between burnout and work engagement among Sri Lankan collegiate cycle students

Abstract

Abstract Background Keeping on par with the emerging trend towards positive psychology focusing on optimal functioning, burnout research is also associated with a shift towards its positive antipode; work engagement. This study was aimed at determining the relationship between burnout and work engagement among collegiate cycle students in Sri Lanka. Methods A school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 872 grade thirteen students in 15 government schools in the Kegalle district, Sri Lanka. The validated Sinhala versions of the 15-item Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey and the 16-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student Version were used to assess burnout and work engagement respectively. The relationship between subscales of burnout; viz., exhaustion (EX), cynicism (CY) and reduced professional efficacy (rPE); and subscales of work engagement; viz., vigor (VI), dedication (DE) and absorption (AB); were assessed using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Results The response rate was 91.3%. The EX subscale of burnout had strong negative correlations with VI (r=-0.699) and AB (r=-0.642) subscales and a moderate negative correlation (r=-0.475) with DE subscale of work engagement. The CY subscale of burnout had a strong negative correlation with AB subscale (r=-0.577), a moderate negative correlation with VI subscale (r=-0.391) and a weak negative correlation (r=-0.195) with DE subscale. The rPE subscale of burnout had weak negative correlations with DE subscale (r=-0.218), AB subscale (r=-0.206) and VI subscale (r=-0.128). All these correlations between the subscales of burnout and work engagement were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions Given the significant negative correlation between burnout and work engagement, exploring student work engagement may allow identification of their positive psychological characteristics that can be incorporated in formulating packages for preventing burnout. Key messages Bivariate correlation revealed that all three subscales of burnout had statistically significant negative correlations with all three subscales of work engagement. Exploring student work engagement may allow identification of their positive psychological characteristics that can be incorporated in formulating packages for preventing burnout.