An online counseling intervention for Nigerian undergraduates with academic burnout

Abstract

A growing problem among university students is academic burnout, and it has become more prevalent in recent years. With the increasing demand for school mental health services, online counseling interventions are gradually being regarded as a reasonable way to provide assistance to students with regard to burnout reduction. It was the researcher's aim to find out whether an online counseling intervention would be able to reduce academic burnout in a Nigerian undergraduate sample. A total of 80 Nigerian undergraduates were participants of this study. In this study, the participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=40) and to the control group (n=40) by using a simple randomization procedure. For the collection of data, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory for Students and the Students School Burnout Inventory were utilised. The researcher applied repeated measures ANOVA to examine within and between groups' mean differences, reported η² to establish treatment effect size, and conducted posthoc analyses where mean differences existed using Holm's approach. The results of the study demonstrate that the online counseling intervention for academic burnout was effective in reducing the level of academic burnout among Nigerian undergraduates.As online counseling can help students reduce academic burnout, this finding opens the door to reach a larger number of burned-out students, such as those who live off-campus or are afraid of social stigma when seeking mental health care. This intervention has the potential to significantly improve student mental health related to burnout in other higher education settings like polytechnics. It is recommended that students should be encouraged to receive psychological supports and care from the university's counseling centre, not just during crises, but as a regular process of mental health support.

Mental Health Professionals' Views on Providing Online Counseling within the Scope of UTAUT Model: A Q Method Analysis

“…It not only allows access to the profiles of mental health professionals but also enables anyone with access to technology to easily enter the internet and receive counseling assistance (Teh et al, 2014). Online counseling provides counseling without the need to travel (Eseadi, 2022). Therefore, it influences the acceptance and usage of online counseling by mental health professionals.…”

“…Ayrıca erişilebilirlik, sadece ruh sağlığı çalışanlarının profiline erişim sağlamak değil; aynı zamanda teknolojiye erişimi olan herkesin internete kolayca girerek psikolojik danışma yardımı almasına da olanak sağlamaktadır (Teh ve ark., 2014). Çevrim içi psikolojik danışma, seyahate gerek duymadan psikolojik danışma hizmetini mümkün kılmaktadır (Eseadi, 2022). Bu durum, ruh sağlığı çalışanlarının çevrim içi psikolojik danışma kabul ve kullanımını etkilemektedir.…”

Intervention for job burnout reduction among a sample of Nigerian lecturers

“…Further, the outcome of the present study also confirms the positive effects of using telegram as an online intervention tool; this is in line with findings of Tavakoli et al [ 43 ] and Eseadi. [ 44 ] The research implication of this study is that future investigators will be able to use this online psychological intervention model of REBT to alleviate the problem of job burnout experienced by university history lecturers. The authors also hope that this study can serve as a springboard for further research to determine whether or not online REBT intervention is a practical treatment approach for burnout among other university employees.…”

Academic Burnout and Relationship with Gratitude

“…As for some suggestions to parties related to this research, the first is for counselor at school. Counselor can reduce academic burnout through various services provided, as explained by Eseadi (2022) students who are struggling with academic burnout can be helped by counselors to create an effective learning environment through counseling sessions.…”