Fear of Covid19 Contagion and Academic Burnout of Medical Students: The Mediating Role of and Academic Self-Efficacy

The Covid-19 epidemic has had many effects on the people's lives, especially medical students. However, little is known about the effects of this pandemic on medical students' learning, stress, and academic burnout. Therefore, the aim of present study was investigating the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between the fear of Covid-19 contagion and the academic burnout of medical students.

Methods and Materials: 

The research population of this study was consisted of all students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences (N=4000) in the academic year of 2021-2022. The research sample was consisted of 436 students who were selected by available sampling method and completed the fear of contagion questionnaire, academic self-efficacy scale and Maslach burnout inventory–student survey. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling.

The findings showed that direct effect of fear of Covid-19 contagion on academic burnout was significant, but its effect on academic burnout was not significant. The direct effect of academic self-efficacy on academic burnout was significant. Also, indirect effect of fear of Covid-19 contagion with the mediation of academic self-efficacy on is significant.

The results suggest that academic self-efficacy can play an important role in increasing the effects fear of contagion epidemic diseases such as Covid-19 on academic burnout. The findings of this research can help to design or use of trainings based on self-efficacy during epidemic periods to reduce academic burnout of medical students.