Casual Modeling of the Relationship among Cognitive Distortions, Negative Future Expectations, and Academic Burnout among University Students

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Education, Helwan University, Egypt

Abstract

The current research aims to investigate the causal relationship among cognitive distortions, negative future expectations, and academic burnout among university students. The research sample comprised 400 university students (180 males, 220 females) from Helwan University, aged between 18 and 24 years, with an average age of 21.54 and a standard deviation of 1.84. The researcher utilized the Cognitive Distortions Scale developed by Ahmed Haroun Al-Sharif in 2017, the Negative Future Expectations Scale (developed by the researcher), and the Academic Burnout Scale prepared by Schaufeli et al. (2002), translated and Arabized by the researcher. The results indicated a positive and statistically significant correlation between the sample members' scores on the cognitive distortions scale and their scores on the negative future expectations scale. Additionally, there was a positive and statistically significant correlation between the sample members' scores on the cognitive distortions scale and their scores on the academic burnout scale. The study also confirmed conformity to the proposed model of the relationship between cognitive distortions (independent variable), negative future expectations (mediator variable), and academic burnout (dependent variable) among university students. The educational implications of the research were discussed, along with recommendations, and suggestions were made for future studies and research related to the field.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Al-Nafakh, N. H., Amir Al-Athari, N. J. A., & Jihad Alathari, M. F. (2020). Psychological Safety and its Relationship to the Trends of Achievement Goals for Students of the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences in Light of the Covid-19 Virus. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 14(4), 2702-2707.
Atabey, N. (2020). Future Expectations and Self-Efficacy of High School Students as a Predictor of Sense of School Belonging. Education & Science/Egitim ve Bilim, 45(201), 125-141.
Barker, E. T., Howard, A. L., Villemaire-Krajden, R., & Galambos, N. L. (2018). The rise and fall of depressive symptoms and academic stress in two samples of university students. Journal of youth and adolescence, 47, 1252-1266.
Bataineh, M. Z. (2013). Academic stress among undergraduate students: the case of education faculty at King Saud University. International interdisciplinary journal of education, 1(1033), 1-7.
Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Penguin.
Beck, A. T., & Haigh, E. A. (2014). Advances in cognitive theory and therapy: The generic cognitive model. Annual review of clinical psychology, 10, 1-24.
Beck, A., & Freeman, A. (2017). Cognitive psychotherapy of personality disorders. Peter.
Beck, A. T., Rush, A., Shaw, B., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. Guilford press.
Belozerova, L., Zakharova, L., Silakova, M., & Semikasheva, I. (2018). Studying the phenomenon of early burnout of pedagogical university students. Psychology and Psychotherapy, Research Study, 1(1), 1-7.
Buga, A., & Kaya, İ. (2022). The Role of Cognitive Distortions Related Academic Achievement in Predicting the Depression, Stress and Anxiety Levels of Adolescents. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 9(1), 103-114.
Cakar, F. S. (2014). The Effect of Automatic Thoughts on Hopelessness: Role of Self-Esteem as a Mediator. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 14(5), 1682-1687.
Cook, S. I., Meyer, D., & Knowles, S. R. (2019). Relationships between psychoevolutionary fear of evaluation, cognitive distortions, and social anxiety symptoms: A preliminary structural equation model. Australian Journal of Psychology, 71(2), 92-99.
Covino, F. E. (2013). Cognitive distortions and gender as predictors of emotional intelligence. Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University.
Covin, R., Dozois, D. J., Ogniewicz, A., & Seeds, P. M. (2011). Measuring cognitive errors: Initial development of the Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS). International journal of cognitive therapy, 4(3), 297-322.
Diefenbeck, C. A. (2005). Role of cognitive distortions and dysfunctional attitudes in nurses experiencing burnout. PCOM Psychology Dissertations, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dragomir-Davis, A. M. (2014). Future-directed thinking in general and clinical samples: Validation of the Spanish version of the subjective probability task. http://hdl.handle.net/10234/143465.
El-Shokheby, A. M. A. (2020). Investigating the Relationship between Cognitive Distortions and Academic Stress for Intermediate School Teachers before and during Work. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(5), 46-59.‏
Fetterman, A. K., & Robinson, M. D. (2011). Routine cognitive errors: A trait-like predictor of individual differences in anxiety and distress. Cognition and Emotion, 25(2), 244-264.
Finney, S. J., & DiStefano, C. (2006). Non-normal and categorical data in structural equation modeling. Structural equation modeling: A second course, 10(6), 269-314.
Fortune, E. E., & Goodie, A. S. (2012). Cognitive distortions as a component and treatment focus of pathological gambling: a review. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26(2), 298-310.
Glazachev, O. C. (2011). Syndrome of emotional burnout in students: the search for ways to optimize the pedagogical process. Bulletin of the International Academy of Sciences, 26-45.
Garay, J. P., Rodríguez Taboada, M. A., Alcas Zapata, N., Alarcón Díaz, M. A., Gallardo Lolandes, Y., Chumacero Calle, J. C. (2020). Personal constraints’ impact on cognitive distortions in persons deprived of liberty. Opción, 36(27), 1675-1690.
Garratt-Reed D, Howell J, Hayes L, Boyes M. (2018). Is perfectionism associated with academic burnout through repetitive negative thinking? PeerJ 6:e5004 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5004
Hedrick, N. J. D. S. (2023). The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Cognitive Distortions: A Microtrial Exploring a Potential Mechanism for the Reduction of Depressive Symptoms. Doctoral dissertation, The George Washington University.
Helmond, P., Overbeek, G., Brugman, D., & Gibbs, J. C. (2015). A meta-analysis on cognitive distortions and externalizing problem behavior: Associations, moderators, and treatment effectiveness. Criminal justice and behavior, 42(3), 245-262.
Jordan, R. K., Shah, S. S., Desai, H., Tripi, J., Mitchell, A., & Worth, R. G. (2020). Variation of stress levels, burnout, and resilience throughout the academic year in first-year medical students. Plos one, 15(10), e0240667.
Kaplan, S. C., Morrison, A. S., Goldin, P. R., Olino, T. M., Heimberg, R. G., & Gross, J. J. (2017). The Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire (CD-Quest): Validation in a sample of adults with social anxiety disorder. Cognitive therapy and research, 41, 576-587.
Koropets, O., Fedorova, A., & Kacane, I. (2019). Emotional and academic burnout of students combining education and work. In EDULEARN19 Proceedings (pp. 8227-8232). IATED.
Kosheleva, Y. (2021). Linguistic Analysis of Automatic Thouths and Cognitive Distortions Causing Individual’s Psychological Problems. In O. Kolmakova, O. Boginskaya, & S. Grichin (Eds.), Language and Technology in the Interdisciplinary Paradigm, vol 118. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 658-670). European Publisher.
Lamar-Ray, T. (2021). An investigation of the effect of adolescent shame on future expectations. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.
Lee, J., Puig, A., Lea, E., & Lee, S. M. (2013). Age‐related differences in academic burnout of Korean adolescents. Psychology in the Schools, 50(10), 1015-1031.
Lee, M. Y., Lee, M. K., Lee, M. J., & Lee, S. M. (2020). Academic burnout profiles and motivation styles among Korean high school students. Japanese Psychological Research, 62(3), 184-195.
Liu, Z., Xie, Y., Sun, Z., Liu, D., Yin, H., & Shi, L. (2023). Factors associated with academic burnout and its prevalence among university students: a cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education, 23(1), 1-13.
Lorzangeneh, S., & Esazadegan, A. (2022). The role of early maladaptive schema domains and childhood trauma in predicting cognitive distortions. Journal of Research in Psychopathology, 3(8), 1-8.
March-Amengual, J. M., Cambra Badii, I., Casas-Baroy, J. C., Altarriba, C., Comella Company, A., Pujol-Farriols, R., ... & Comella Cayuela, A. (2022). Psychological distress, burnout, and academic performance in first year college students. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(6), 3356. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063356
Marquez, E. M. (2023). Moral Injury: Examining Coping Styles and Cognitive Distortions. Doctoral dissertation, Adler University.
Matturro, L. (2019). Stress, Cognitive Distortions, Engagement in Self-care, and Burnout in Psychology Graduate Students. Doctoral dissertation, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Mercan, N., Bulut, M., & Yüksel, Ç. (2023). Investigation of the relatedness of cognitive distortions with emotional expression, anxiety, and depression. Current Psychology, 42(3), 2176-2185.
Miranda, R., Fontes, M., & Marroquín, B. (2008). Cognitive content-specificity in future expectancies: Role of hopelessness and intolerance of uncertainty in depression and GAD symptoms. Behaviour research and therapy, 46(10), 1151-1159.
Özgöl, M., Sahin, M., & Sarikaya, I. (2022). Mediating Role of Cognitive Distortions in Negative Future Expectations That Are Affecting Occupational Anxiety. Journal of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 6(2), 1-13.
Panourgia, C., & Comoretto, A. (2017). Do cognitive distortions explain the longitudinal relationship between life adversity and emotional and behavioural problems in secondary school children?. Stress and Health, 33(5), 590-599.
Peterson, C. (2000). The future of optimism. American psychologist, 55(1), 44-55.
Pratiwi, S. H., Ulfa, N., El, F. M., & Rini, H. (2024). The Influence of Reasoning Ability, Cognitive Distortions, Self-Confidence and Adversity Quotient on The Problem-Solving Ability of Open Education Resources (OER)-Based Accounting Learning in Accounting Education Program Students, Faculty of Economics, Medan State University. In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Innovation in Education, Science, and Culture, ICIESC 2023, 24 October 2023, Medan, Indonesia.
Rahmatpour, P., Chehrzad, M., Ghanbari, A., & Sadat-Ebrahimi, S. R. (2019). Academic burnout as an educational complication and promotion barrier among undergraduate students: A cross-sectional study. Journal of education and health promotion, 8, 1-5.
Reis, D., Xanthopoulou, D., & Tsaousis, I. (2015). Measuring job and academic burnout with the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI): Factorial invariance across samples and countries. Burnout research, 2(1), 8-18.
Robert, A., Combalbert, N., & Pennequin, V. (2018). Study of cognitive distortion profiles on anxiety and depressive states in ordinary people. In Annales Medico-Psychologiques (Vol. 176, No. 3, pp. 225-230). France: Masson Editeur.
Roberts, M. B. (2015). Inventory of cognitive distortions: Validation of a measure of cognitive distortions using a community sample. PCOM psychology dissertations, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Roepke, A. M., & Seligman, M. E. (2016). Depression and prospection. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 23-48.
Rosales-Ricardo, Y., Rizzo-Chunga, F., Mocha-Bonilla, J., & Ferreira, J. P. (2021). Prevalence of burnout syndrome in university students: A systematic review. Salud mental, 44(2), 91-102.
Salmela-Aro, K., Savolainen, H., & Holopainen, L. (2009). Depressive symptoms and school burnout during adolescence: Evidence from two cross-lagged longitudinal studies. Journal of youth and adolescence, 38, 1316-1327.
Schaufeli, W. B., Martinez, I. M., Pinto, A. M., Salanova, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). Burnout and engagement in university students: A cross-national study. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 33(5), 464-481.
Seperak-Viera, R., & Fernández-Arata, M. (2021). Prevalence and severity of academic burnout in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interacciones, 7(199).
Shankland, R., Kotsou, I., Vallet, F., Bouteyre, E., Dantzer, C., & Leys, C. (2019). Burnout in university students: The mediating role of sense of coherence on the relationship between daily hassles and burnout. Higher Education, 78, 91-113.
Shetty, A., Shetty, A., Hegde, M. N., Narasimhan, D., & Shetty, S. (2015). Stress and burnout assessment among post graduate dental students. Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU, 5(01), 31-36.
Sipsma, H. L., Ickovics, J. R., Lin, H., & Kershaw, T. S. (2012). Future expectations among adolescents: A latent class analysis. American journal of community psychology, 50(1-2), 169-181.
Usen, S. A., Eneh, G. A., & Udom, I. E. (2016). Cognitive Distortion as Predictor of In-School Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms and Academic Performance in South-South, Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(17), 23-27.
VandenBos, G. R. (Ed.). (2015). APA dictionary of psychology (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.
Wickramasinghe, N. D., Dissanayake, D. S., & Abeywardena, G. S. (2018). Prevalence and correlates of burnout among collegiate cycle students in Sri Lanka: a school-based cross-sectional study. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 12(1), 1-11.
Yüksel, A., & Bahadir‐Yilmaz, E. (2019). Relationship between depression, anxiety, cognitive distortions, and psychological well‐being among nursing students. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 55(4), 690-696.
Yurica, C. L. (2002). Inventory of cognitive distortions: Development and validation of a psychometric test for the measurement of cognitive distortions. Doctoral dissertation, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Zaiden, F., & Mahfar, M. (2023). Development of cognitive behavioral module for out-of-wedlock pregnancy's depression and cognitive distortion. International Journal of Public Health, 12(1), 447-459.
Zheng, J., Jiang, N., & Dou, J. (2020). Autonomy Support and Academic Stress: A Relationship Mediated by Self-regulated Learning and Mastery Goal Orientation. New Waves-Educational Research and Development Journal, 23, 43-63.
Translation of Arabic References
Ahmed Abdelkazem Joony (2016). Self-blame and its relationship with optimistic-pessimistic future expectations among students of the Faculty of Arts. Al-Qadisiya Journal of Humanities, 19(3), 451–480.
 
Ahmed Haroun El Sherif (2017). Cognitive Distortions Scale. Cairo: Anglo Egyptian Library.
Ayman Monir Hassan and Abdelmoneim Ali Omar (2023). Modeling the causal relationships of personality traits, career expectations, social support, and satisfaction with academic life in light of the social cognitive career theory among student teachers at Al-Azhar University. Faculty of Education Journal in Psychological Sciences, Ain Shams University, 47(1), 15–143.
Enas Fathi Kamel, Mohamed Abdeltawab Abu El-Nour, Mohamed Mahmoud Hassanein (2023). Academic burnout among university students in light of some demographic variables. Fayoum University Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 17(3), 506-550.
Enas Fathi Kamel, Mohamed Abdeltawab Abu El-Nour, Mohamed Mahmoud Hassanein (2023). Academic burnout and its relationship with cognitive distortions among university students. Fayoum University Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 17(3), 448-505.
Hussein Ghannam and Muayin Nasraween (2020). Cognitive distortions and their relationship with exam anxiety and perceived self-efficacy among high school students in Sakhnin. Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, University of Amman, 4(7), 84-112.
Ziad Khamees Al-Taher (2009). Performance expectations in future tasks among students of Al al-Bayt University and its relationship with locus of control. Islamic University Journal, Humanities Series, 17(1), 583-610.
Zeina Ali Saleh and Maha Salem Jiyad (2019). Resilience and its relationship with cognitive distortions among adolescents in secondary schools. Journal of Basic Education College of Educational and Human Sciences, University of Babylon, 43, 1223-1245.
Salem Hameed Obeid (2021). Cognitive perception anxiety and its relationship with future expectations among preparatory stage students. College of Education Journal, Mustansiriya University, 3, 269–286.
Salem Hameed Obeid (2021). Cognitive perception anxiety and its relationship with future expectations among preparatory stage students. College of Education Journal, Mustansiriya University, 3, 269–286.
Sayed Mohammadi Samedeh and Rania Mohamed Saleh (2021). Modeling the relationships between cognitive distortions, self-handicap, academic procrastination, and academic achievement among university students. Benha University Faculty of Education Journal, 32(128), 583-658.
Adel Mahmoud Al-Manshawi (2016). A causal model of the reciprocal relationships between self-compassion and both academic fatigue and resilience among student teachers. Faculty of Education Journal - Alexandria University, 26(5), 153–225.
Abdul Zahra Baqir Al-Shibani (2008). Future expectations among female students of the College of Education for Girls about the teaching profession. Journal of Psychological Sciences, 13, 27-40.
Ali Thabet Ibrahim Hafni and Mohamed Ahmed Sayed Khalil (2023). Modeling the relationships between academic integration, emotional regulation, and academic burnout among university students. Journal of Psychological Counseling, 2(76), 457-538.
Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Shahri (2020). Academic burnout and its relationship with academic self-happiness among secondary school students. Arab Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 17, 179 – 204.
Fatima Zahra Khalafawi and Amal Boruba (2021). Cognitive distortions and their relationship with internet addiction among adolescents: A field study in Aflo City. Journal of Legal and Social Sciences, 6(3), 427-452.
Fatima Zahra Abdul Basit Abdul Wahid and Fatima Zahra Mohamed Malih (2021). Causal modeling of the relationships between cognitive distortions, self-handicap, and defensive pessimism among Helwan University students. Sohag University Educational Journal, 95, 397 – 477.
Kawthar Qutb Abu Qura (2019). Causal modeling of the relationships between academic burnout, academic procrastination, and beliefs about knowledge beyond cognition as a mediator for students of the Faculty of Education. Faculty of Education Journal, Kafr El-Sheikh University, 19(1), 721– 788.
Majed Mohammed Osman and Manal Ali Al-Khouli (2021). Academic burnout among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in light of psychological resilience and achievement goal orientations. Education Journal, Al-Azhar University, 5(189), 99 – 173.
Mohamed Ahmed Desouki, Mohamed El-Mary Mohamed Ismail, Ibrahim Jeed Ghabra, Ayah Helmi Abdul Aziz Ibrahim (2020). Cognitive distortions and their relationship with quality of life among secondary school students. Arab Journal of Measurement and Evaluation, 1(1), 129-159.
Mohamed Ghazi Eldesouki (2018). Causal modeling of the relationships between future orientations, perceived academic self-efficacy, fear of failure avoidance motivation, self-regulated learning, and academic achievement. Educational Sciences Journal, South Valley University, 37, 16 – 103.
Mohamed Hassan Ghanem (2015). Optimism and pessimism: Theoretical foundation and field study. Cairo: Anglo-Egyptian Library.
Nasser Hussein Nasser (2019). Future orientations and their relationship with academic success determinants among university students. Faculty of Education Journal of Humanities Sciences, University of Thi Qar, 9(2), 475-513.
Najwa Ahmed Abdullah Waer, Najat Adli Tawfiq, Ahmed Abdullah Rashidi (2023). Cognitive distortions and their relationship with future thinking among secondary stage students in New Valley Governorate. Scientific Journal – Faculty of Education – New Valley University, 15(46), 140-174.
Nermeen Awni Mohamed (2019). Mental alertness and cognitive distortions as predictors of experimental wisdom among students of the Faculty of Education, Alexandria University. Scientific Journal of the Faculty of Education, Assiut University, 35 (10), 1- 60.
Wafaa Rashad Rawi (2021). Cognitive distortions and their relationship with academic resilience and psychological well-being among students of the Faculty of Early Childhood Education. Scientific Journal of the Faculty of Early Childhood Education, Port Said, 18(1), 392-500