The influence of emotional intelligence and resilience on academic burnout of rehabilitation students with mediating effect of stress: A study demands-resources model perspective

Abstract

Academic burnout, conceptualized as an extension of career burnout, manifests in students during the learning process through symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization tendencies, and a sense of low personal accomplishment. This study aimed to explore the impact of emotional intelligence (EI), resilience, and stress on academic burnout grounded in the Study Demands-Resources (SD-R) model. A cross-sectional design incorporating structural equation modeling was employed. The sample consisted of 760 rehabilitation students from three medical science universities in Iran, with 27% male and 73% female participants. Findings revealed that EI and resilience—both considered academic resources—had significant negative direct effects on academic burnout. In contrast, stress, as an academic demand, demonstrated a significant positive direct effect. Furthermore, both resources exhibited significant indirect effects on academic burnout through the mediating role of stress. These findings suggest that enhancing students’ EI and resilience may help reduce stress and, consequently, academic burnout. The findings support the extension of the SD-R model by highlighting the interconnected roles of resources and demands within an educational context.