Burnout and positive suicidal ideation in high school students before university admittance selective examinations

Abstract

Background: As in any important exam, selective assessment tests for access to university in Spain are associated with emotional distress, depressive symptoms, and burnout, among other negative aspects in the students who face them. In the present study, we propose to explore the presence of burnout and suicidal ideation in students who take these exams. Methods: For this purpose, we worked with a sample of 872 students aged from 17 to 24 of the last course of high school who were going to take the university access evaluation test in Spain. Of them, 476 (55%) were assessed three months before the test, and 390 (45%) were assessed on the days of the examination. Results: Our results showed significant levels of burnout in these students as well as positive suicidal ideation. Furthermore, higher levels of burnout are associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation in the participants, having found that the students could present suicidal ideation months before taking the test. Conclusions: Our results are novel and highly relevant, bearing in mind that these aspects had not received much attention in our national context, where the selective test is an indispensable requirement for access to university.