Balancing demands and resources toward better flourishing and life satisfaction: a two-wave path analysis of school burnout and teens’ resilience

IntroductionTeens’ anxiety-related issues and more generally adolescents’ mental health problems are a growing global concern. These extend to the school domain, where adolescents can suffer from school-burnout. The school-adapted version of the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R), incorporated with the construct of resilience, might provide with an explanatory framework in regard this field of health. Our first aim was to investigate the predictive relations between all of the variables displayed in the model – that is, the role of optimism, perceived demands and resources, on school burnout and resilience and, in turn, the impact of these latter on flourishing and life satisfaction. Our second aim was to confirm the adequacy of such an alternative framework (i.e., the school-adapted version of the JD-R integrating the resilience construct and some of its known features).MethodsIn total, 525 middle school and high school French students participated in the study which followed a two-wave prospective longitudinal and observational design. Participants were aged from 12 to 18 years old (Mean=14.7 years; SD= 1.55) and included 50.9% of girls (n = 267) and 49% of boys (n = 257).ResultsPath analysis shows hypotheses were supported and that the model as a whole fits the data correctly, with fit indices (RMSEA= 0.061; SRMR= 0.026; CI 90% [.022–.103]), chi-square goodness-of-fit test (χ2 (4) = 11.72, p < 0.05) and incremental indices (CFI= 0.993; TLI= 0.968) proving to be satisfactory. Perceived demands were positively related to school burnout and alternatively resources and optimism (known resilience feature) were positively related to resilience which, in turn, positively predicted flourishing and life satisfaction. Indirect mediating effects further supported these direct effects.DiscussionFindings underscore the importance for schools to put a greater emphasis on promoting student resources to foster resilience, reduce burnout, and enhance overall well-being.