A validation of the Flemish School Burnout Assessment Tool for students between 17 and 21 years old (FS-BAT)

Introduction

The present study assessed the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the Flemish school burnout assessment tool (FS-BAT) for students between 17 and 21 years old.

Method

The sample consisted of 570 secondary and higher education students between 17 and 21 years old (M_age = 19.14, SD_age = 1.11, 81% female). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability scores, and the convergent validity were assessed.

Results

CFA revealed four distinguishable but strongly related school burnout core symptoms (i.e., exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment and emotion impairment), referring to one underlying construct ‘school burnout’. The psychological stress complaints and psychosomatic complaints are two separate but positively correlated aspects of the secondary symptoms. The internal consistency of the scales ranged between excellent (.94; total core symptoms scale) and acceptable (.77; psychosomatic complaints scale). The test-retest reliability after five months varied between excellent (the total core scale and secondary symptoms subscales) and good (core symptoms subscales), indicating good stability over time. The convergent validity showed moderate positive correlations with the Perceived Stress Scale and the Perceptions of Academic Stress scale.

Conclusion

The current findings illustrate that the FS-BAT can be used as a reliable and valid instrument to assess school burnout symptoms in secondary and higher education students between 17 and 21 years old. Further research to assess the discriminant validity and the relation to other school burnout measures is needed.