October 6, 2024
Group Psychological Counseling to Contrast Academic Burnout: A Research Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Health Psychology

Volume 15 – 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1400882

This article is part of the Research Topic Health Promotion in the Universities and Other Educational Settings View all 13 articles

Provisionally accepted


  • Mercatorum University, Rome, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Academic burnout is a condition characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, a distant attitude toward studying, and diminished self-efficacy in academic activities. Preliminary scientific findings indicate that interventions designed to alleviate work burnout also hold promise for mitigating academic burnout, however clear evidence based on randomized controlled trials is still missing. This research protocol describes a randomized controlled trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of an online group psychological intervention to contrast academic burnout. Participants with high levels of burnout will be assigned to a psychological counseling group or a waiting list control group. The research comprises several phases: (T0) Screening, Recruitment, and Randomization; (T1) Baseline assessment (pre-intervention); (T2) Outcome Assessment (post-intervention); (T3) Follow-up Assessment (3 months post-intervention). The primary outcomes include burnout symptoms, general well-being, and academic achievement. Additionally, secondary variables such as effort-reward imbalances, satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs, intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation, coping strategies, and social support will be examined. The psychological intervention strategies will encompass psychoeducation, self-awareness enhancement, cognitive restructuring, and promotion of social support. This research protocol is an initial step toward evidence-based psychological interventions to treat academic burnout.

    Keywords:
    Academic burnout, randomized controlled trial, Psychological counseling, Group counseling, online counseling Not applicable

    Received:
    14 Mar 2024;
    Accepted:
    15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright:
    © 2024 Messina, Rossi, Bonaiuto, Granieri, Cardinali, Petruccelli, Maniglio and Spataro. This is an
    open-access article distributed under the terms of the
    Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted,
    provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the
    original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted
    academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which
    does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Irene Messina, Mercatorum University, Rome, Italy

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