From Academic Stress to Academic Performance: A Sequential Mediation Model of Anxiety and Burnout among University Students in Mongolia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56380/Keywords:
Academic stress, Anxiety, Burnout, Academic performance, PLS-SEM, MongoliaAbstract
Objectives:
This study examines the interrelationships among academic stress, anxiety, burnout, and academic performance (GPA) among Mongolian university students, with particular focus on the mediating roles of anxiety and burnout. It also tests whether gender moderates the relationship between academic stress and anxiety.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 382 undergraduate students from multiple universities in Mongolia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Validated instruments were used, including the Academic Stress Inventory (ASI), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). This approach was selected due to its prediction-oriented nature and its suitability for modeling complex mediation relationships, particularly in exploratory and theory development contexts (Hair et al., 2022).
Measurement model quality was assessed through reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity (HTMT), while structural relationships were evaluated using path coefficients, effect sizes, and predictive relevance (PLSpredict and Q²_predict).
Results:
Academic stress significantly increased anxiety (β = 0.558, p < .001), which in turn predicted burnout (β = 0.454, p < .001). Anxiety had a strong negative effect on GPA (β = −0.553, p < .001), while burnout also negatively influenced GPA (β = −0.240, p < .001), albeit to a lesser extent. Mediation analysis revealed that anxiety serves as the primary pathway linking academic stress to both burnout and GPA. The model explained 48.4% of the variance in GPA and demonstrated moderate predictive relevance. Gender showed no significant direct or moderating effects.
Conclusions:
The findings support a cascading psychological mechanism in which academic stress affects academic performance primarily through anxiety and secondarily through burnout. The results highlight the central role of anxiety in academic functioning and underscore the need for integrated mental health interventions in higher education. Addressing psychological well-being is essential for improving student outcomes, particularly in contexts characterized by structural challenges such as digital inequality.
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Ном
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Danks, N. P., & Ray, S. (2022). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using R: A workbook. Springer.
Номын бүлэг
Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Hair, J. F. (2022). Partial least squares structural equation modeling. In Handbook of Market Research. Springer
Тайлан
UNESCO. (2022). Education: From disruption to recovery. UNESCO.
