School engagement and school burnout profiles during high school – The role of socio-emotional skills

This study examined latent profiles of school burnout symptoms, studyholism, and engagement among high-school students. The dimensions of school burnout (e.g., exhaustion, cynicism, feelings of inadequacy), studyholism, and overall school engagement were examined as indicators of the latent profiles. The OECD socio-emotional skills framework (curiosity, grit, social engagement, belongingness, and academic buoyancy) was examined in predicting students’ belonging to different latent groups. The participants were 1038 high-school students from the Helsinki metropolitan area who completed an online survey concerning their experiences of school-related burnout, engagement, studyholism, and key socio-emotional skills. The results from the latent profile analyses showed that three homogeneous groups of students could be identified according to students’ experiences of burnout, studyholism, and engagement, namely engaged (34%), stressed (47%), and burned out (19%) groups. The results showed that in the context of socio-emotional skills, those who reported high curiosity, grit, academic buoyancy, social engagement, and belongingness were more likely to belong to the engaged rather than the stressed or burned out groups, and to the stressed rather than the burned out group.