Developmental processes in school burnout : a comparison of major developmental models

School burnout is a relatively new area of interest and as such, it is in need of foundational research. One area requiring further investigation is the construction and testing of developmental models which outline the causal relationships between emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy. The current research explored the development of burnout by comparing and contrasting four competing theoretical frameworks (Golembiewski, 1989; Leiter, 1989, Lee & Ashforth, 1993, Taris et al., 2005). These frameworks were submitted to testing in Mplus with a sample of 852 Finnish students tested on four separate occasions. The results suggested that Taris et al.'s (2005) framework fitted the data significantly better than the alternative theoretical models. The parameters of this model suggested that (a) school burnout is moderately to strongly consistent over time; (b) cynicism predicted feelings of inadequacy over time as indicated by Golembiewski's and Leiter's frameworks; and (c) emotional exhaustion predicted feelings of inadequacy over time as indicated by Lee and Ashforth's and Taris et al.'s frameworks. Substantive and applied implications are discussed.