Enhancing Resilience: Analyzing Its Impact with a Second-Order Structural Equation Model on Burnout Among Mexican University Students During COVID-19

Abstract

This study employs a second-order structural equation model to assess the statistical impact of resilience on burnout subscales among undergraduate students from Mexican faculties during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire was administered to a nationwide sample of 5557 students enrolled in a higher education institution. The questionnaire demonstrated high reliability, with alpha coefficients exceeding 0.70 for all subscales, and demonstrated construct validity with average variance extracted (AVE) coefficients surpassing 0.50, alongside discriminant validity values exceeding 0.70. Utilizing structural equation models with second-order latent variables through the maximum likelihood method, our study sought to test the research hypothesis. The results indicated that resilience exerted a significant and direct influence on the illusion to study (0.74), explaining approximately 55% of its variance. Additionally, psychological exhaustion (−0.36), indolence (−0.35), and guilt (−0.27) were significantly inversely related, elucidating around 13%, 12%, and 1% of their respective variances. The findings underline the significance of resilience as a pertinent psychosocial factor empowering students to confront the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Resilience enhances students’ enthusiasm to study while simultaneously mitigating psychological exhaustion, indolence, and guilt. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), burnout emerges as a syndrome resulting from inadequately managed chronic stress. Previous research has demonstrated that depression, psychosomatic disorders, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and obesity stem from the profound feelings of guilt linked to burnout, as outlined in Gil-Monte’s burnout model. Significantly, students in academic contexts often perceive their burnout experiences as indicative of personal inadequacies, leading them to internalize guilt for their perceived underperformance. This self-criticism contributes to a pervasive sense of failure and a marked decline in self-esteem. Moreover, employing Student’s t-tests, this study reveals noteworthy gender-based disparities across all subscales, with the exception of persistence, tenacity, and self-efficacy.