Influence of Coping Strategies on Academic Anxiety, Burnout among Young Adults

Abstract

Academic requirements are important aspects in a students’ life to achieve their goals and meet the expectations especially during young adulthood, which increases the mental pressure related to academic work, making effective coping strategies crucial. The present study examined the influence of coping strategies on academic anxiety, burnout among university students, with a specific focus on the mediating role of academic anxiety. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational research design, data were collected through online survey from 261 young adults enrolled in higher education institutions. Participants completed measures of Brief-COPE, Academic Anxiety Scale, and Burnout Assessment Tool Student Version (BAT-S). The analyses conducted to examine the proposed relationships were descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson’s correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analyses. The results revealed that emotion-focused and avoidant coping strategies were significantly linked with higher levels of academic anxiety and burnout, whereas problem-focused coping was not significantly related to either academic anxiety or burnout. There was a strong and positive connection between academic anxiety with burnout, and the mediation was there between the variables, between the maladaptive coping and burnout through academic anxiety. This promotes the use of adaptive style of coping for a better mental health state and helps in reducing academic anxiety among students.