Risk and protective factors in academic burnout: exploring the mediating role of interpersonal emotion regulation in the link with social support

Interpersonal Emotion Regulation (IER) may serve as a critical link between the established roles of social support and emotion regulation in mitigating academic burnout. This study explored the hypothesis that IER influences academic burnout through its impact on social support. 156 undergraduate students were involved in the study, with measures assessing academic burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey), IER (Difficulties in Interpersonal Emotion Regulation), and social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support). Results confirmed the protective role of social support and revealed distinct effects of different IER forms. Specifically, reassurance-seeking emerged as a protective factor, positively predicting social support and indirectly reducing burnout levels. Conversely, venting was found to exacerbate burnout both directly and indirectly, by diminishing social support.