School engagement and burnout in a sample of brazilian students

Objective: Some studies have suggested that school engagement can be an ally in the prevention of psychosocial and occupational risks, to which students are exposed daily. The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement on burnout syndrome among pharmacy undergraduate students. Methods: A total of 363 students enrolled in the pharmacy undergraduate program in the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Sao Paulo State University’s Araraquara Campus (UNESP) participated, 78.0% of whom were female. Mean age was 20.3 (SD = 2.7) years. The Maslach Burnout Inventory for students (MBI-SS) and the University Students School Engagement Inventory (USEI) were used. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess the psychometric properties of the instruments. The data were included in a structural equation model in which burnout was considered the central construct. The impact of school engagement on burnout was based on the statistical significance of causal paths (β) evaluated by z tests (α = 5%). Results: The psychometric properties of the MBI-SS and USEI were adequate and the structural model also presented an adequate fit. Behavioral engagement (β = −0.56) and the emotional engagement (β = −0.71) explained 81.0% of burnout variability in the sample. Cognitive engagement was not found to contribute significantly. This data provides evidence of the impact of school engagement on burnout that can be used by educators and policymakers in charge of educational process. Conclusion: School engagement presented inverse and significant influence on burnout syndrome among pharmacy students.

University students' engagement: Development of the university student engagement inventory (USEI)

Student engagement is a key factor in academic achievement and degree completion, though there is much debate about the operationalization and dimensionality of this construct. The goal of this paper is to describe the development of an psycho-educational oriented measure – the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI). This measure draws on the conceptualization of engagement as a multidimensional construct, including cognitive, behavioural and emotional engagement. Participants were 609 Portuguese University students (67 % female) majoring in Social Sciences, Biological Sciences or Engineering and Exact Sciences. The content, construct and predictive validity, and reliability of the USEI were tested. The validated USEI was composed of 15 items, and supported the tri-factorial structure of student engagement. We documented evidence of adequate reliability, factorial, convergent and discriminant validities. USEI’s concurrent validity, with the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student Survey, and the predictive validity for self-reported academic achievement and intention to dropout from school were also observed.