# The impact of effort–reward imbalance on academic burnout: the chain mediating effect of frustration and perceived stress

## TL;DR

This study shows that effort-reward imbalance leads to academic burnout in adolescents through increased frustration and stress.

## Contribution

The study identifies a chain mediating pathway of frustration and perceived stress linking effort-reward imbalance to academic burnout.

## Key findings

- Effort-reward imbalance is directly predictive of academic burnout.
- Frustration and perceived stress mediate the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and academic burnout.
- The chain mediation effect of frustration and stress is statistically significant.

## Abstract

Although effort–reward imbalance and academic burnout were usually experienced by adolescents in their lives, whether and how effort–reward imbalance influences adolescents’ academic burnout remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between effort–reward imbalance and academic burnout, as well as the chain mediating effect of frustration and perceived stress between effort–reward imbalance and academic burnout.

A sample survey was conducted with 1,402 middle school students using the Effort–reward imbalance Scale, the Defeat Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Academic Burnout Scale. Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis were used with SPSS 26.0 software, and the chained mediation model was tested with the PROCESS 4.1 program.

(1) There is a significant correlation between effort–reward imbalance, frustration, perceived stress, and academic burnout; (2) the direct predictive effect of effort–reward imbalance on academic burnout is significant; and (3) the chain mediating effect of frustration and perceived stress between effort–reward imbalance and academic burnout is significant.

Effort–reward imbalance affects academic burnout through the mediating effects of frustration and perceived stress as well as through the chain mediating effect of frustration and perceived stress. These findings suggest that in school education, we should prevent effort–reward imbalance and its impact on teenagers’ frustration and perceived stress, which is conducive to reducing academic burnout among teenagers.