School climate and academic burnout in medical students: a moderated mediation model of collective self-esteem and psychological capital

BACKGROUND: The study burnout of medical students is more and more serious, which directly affects the study style of university and the learning quality of students. This has aroused the high attention of researchers and universities. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of the influence of school climate on academic burnout among medical students in Chinese cultural context. METHODS: 2411 medical students (50.52% female; mean age = 19.55, SD = 1.41, rang = 17–24 years) were investigated with psychological environment questionnaire, collective self-esteem scale, psychological capital scale and academic burnout scale. The data were analyzed by using a moderated mediation model with SPSS and the Process 4.0 macro. RESULTS: The results revealed that: (1) school climate had a significant negative predictive effect on academic burnout among medical students controlling for gender, grade and age (B = -0.40, p < 0.001). (2) Collective self-esteem played a partial mediating role in school climate and academic burnout (indirect effect = -0.28, 95% CI = [-0.32,-0.25], accounting for 52.83%). (3) The first and second half of the indirect effect of school climate on medical students’ academic burnout were moderated by psychological capital (B = 0.03, p < 0.01; B = -0.09, p < 0.001).High level of psychological capital can enhance the link between school climate and collective self-esteem as well as the link between self-esteem and academic burnout. CONCLUSION: Creating a good school atmosphere and improving the level of collective self-esteem and psychological capital are beneficial to improve the academic burnout of medical students.