Student burnout and work engagement: a canonical correlation analysis

This school-based cross-sectional study, conducted among 872 grade thirteen students in Sri Lanka, assessed the complex relationship between burnout and work engagement using the validated Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student Version (UWES-S). In canonical correlation analysis (CCA), three subscale scores of MBI-SS [Exhaustion (EX), Cynicism (CY), reduced Professional Efficiency (rPE)] and three subscale scores of UWES-S [Vigor (VI), Dedication (DE), Absorption (AB)] were used as the criterion and predictor variables respectively. The full model across three functions yielded by CCA was statistically significant (p < 0.001), explaining 64.7% of the variance between the variable sets. The dimension reduction analysis considered the first two functions accounted for 52.9% and 22.7% of shared variance respectively. In Function 1, EX was the most relevant criterion variable contributing to burnout [structure coefficient (rs) = 0.998], while all three variables were positively related. Furthermore, VI (rs = -0.959) and AB (rs = -0.899) variables were the primary contributors to work engagement. The canonical correlation between the burnout and work engagement variables was found to be high (0.727). This complex, strong relationship between burnout and work engagement among students provides a platform to develop evidence-informed policies focusing on student engagement as a means of promoting mental well-being of students.