Moderating Effect of Academic Isolation on the Relationship Between Parental Social Support and Academic Burnout Among Undergraduate Students in Shandong Province, China: A Study of Gender Differences

Background: In the Chinese education system, undergraduate students transition from highly structured high school learning to a more autonomous university environment, which may increase feelings of academic isolation. However, it remains unclear whether parental social support (PSS) reduces academic burnout under varying levels of academic isolation and whether this process varies by gender. This study aimed to examine the association between PSS and academic burnout, test the moderating effect of academic isolation, and explore gender differences in these relationships.Methods:Drawing on the stress-buffering hypothesis, this study examined the association between PSS and academic burnout among undergraduate students, tested the moderating role of academic isolation, and further explored whether this moderating effect varies by gender. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate students from universities in Shandong Province, China, yielding 970 valid responses.Results:PSS was significantly associated with lower academic burnout (β = –0.498, p < 0.001). Academic isolation moderated this association (interaction β = 0.201, p < 0.001), such that the protective effect of PSS decreased as isolation increased. This moderating effect varied by gender, as indicated by a significant three-way interaction (β = –0.097, p < 0.001), with the full model explaining 31.5% of the variance in burnout (R2 = 0.315). Under conditions of high academic isolation, female students exhibited a greater reduction in burnout associated with PSS than male students, whereas under low isolation, male students benefited more from PSS.Conclusions: These findings extend the stress-buffering hypothesis by demonstrating a gender-differentiated buffering pattern across levels of academic isolation. From a practical perspective, the results suggest that burnout prevention and support strategies in higher education should account for students’ level of isolation and gender, with targeted interventions designed to strengthen effective support utilization across different student groups.