Academic Burnout and Suicidal Ideation among Young Scholars: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Academic burnout has been increasingly recognized as a widespread issue among students globally, particularly in the context of rising academic demands, competition, and more recently, the impacts of online learning during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent studies have documented alarming prevalence rates across different student populations and educational contexts. The recent studies also show how suicidal tendencies are increasing in students (Mortier et al., 2018). The current cross sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of academic burnout and its association with suicidal ideation among school students of Pakistan. The data was collected from students of different government and private schools of Karachi, Pakistan. For data collection Modified Scale for Suicide Ideation (MSSI) and the School Burnout Inventory (SBI) was used as standardized instruments. Further descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression analyses were used for data analysis through SPSS 25. Based on the finding it can be said that emotional exhaustion and cynicism emerged as the most influential factors associated with suicidal ideation. Moreover, findings also reveal the significant correlation between suicidal thoughts and academic burnout among students of Pakistan. In conclusion the study emphasizing the urgent need to tackle academic burnout as an important element affecting adolescent mental health and leading towards suicidal thoughts, which signify it, that is a public health issue that needs immediate attention such as early interventions and accessible mental health resources to support students' psychological well-being.

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