The role of self-compassion in the academic stress model

Students in the transition period from school to work suffer excessive stress and burden due to its importance. Many are too busy for successful transition, which could lead to academic burnout and depression. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of self-compassion on the relationships among academic demand, burnout, and depression. The data were drawn from a school-to-work transition study of the mental health of senior university students from five universities in South Korea (N = 154, female 50.6%). The analysis procedure included structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis. The students were divided into high and low self-compassion groups (HSC; n = 78, LSC; n = 76) by the median value of self-compassion. The fully mediated model was supported, where academic burnout explained the relationship between academic demands and depression. The results of multi-group analysis demonstrated that the path coefficients from academic demand to burnout were identical by group; however, the path coefficients from academic burnout to depression varied by the level of self-compassion, suggesting that although students with a high level of self-compassion might feel burned out by academic demands, this would not develop into depression. Self-compassion showed a possibility of moderating the development of depression from academic burnout. This research provides a basis for developing interventions applying self-compassion to students suffering academic burnout.