Relationships among perfectionism, self-compassion, teacher support, and academic burnout among university students

Background As competition in higher education intensifies, academic burnout among university students has become increasingly prominent, and the underlying psychological mechanisms urgently need to be explored in depth. Drawing upon Conservation of Resources theory, this research focuses on the associations among maladaptive perfectionism, self-compassion, teacher support, and academic burnout, aiming to reveal the internal dynamics of university students' psychological adaptation and academic development. Method A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was employed, and data were collected from 912 valid responses through convenience sampling approach. Data were analyzed for mediating and moderating effects using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results Maladaptive perfectionism demonstrated a significant positive correlation with academic burnout, and self-compassion served as a mediator in this relationship. Furthermore, teacher support significantly moderated both the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and academic burnout and the relationship between self-compassion and academic burnout. Conclusion The findings are expected to serve as empirical evidence and practical references for universities in advancing academic burnout prevention, mental health intervention, and teacher support system development within the context of digital education transformation.