A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä

School burnout among students with and without disabilities before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic




TekijätHolm, Marja Eliisa; Sainio, Päivi; Lehtola, Sinna Maija Henriikka; Gissler, Mika; Luoma, Minna-Liisa; Salmela-Aro, Katariina; Kiviruusu, Olli

KustantajaElsevier

Julkaisuvuosi2025

JournalDisability and Health Journal

Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimiDisability and Health Journal

Artikkelin numero101841

Vuosikerta18

Numero4

ISSN1936-6574

eISSN1876-7583

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2025.101841

Verkko-osoitehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2025.101841

Rinnakkaistallenteen osoitehttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/492308146


Tiivistelmä

Background: Students’ mental health problems increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and persisted afterward. Evidence regarding school burnout—particularly among disabled students—is limited.

Objective: We assessed school burnout and its changes among students with specific (only cognitive, only sensory, only mobility, or several) and any (at least one of the three domains) disabilities compared to those without disabilities before (2019), during (2021), and post-pandemic (2023).

Methods: We analyzed population-level cross-sectional data from the Finnish School Health Promotion study, including 467,186 lower secondary, upper secondary, and vocational students (mean age = 16.2; SD = 1.22) from 2019, 2021, and 2023 using logistic regression.

Results: At all school levels, students with any disabilities reported school burnout more often than those without disabilities. Those with several disabilities were the most vulnerable, particularly girls. At vocational level, burnout prevalence was about half that of other levels among girls and boys with and without any disabilities. In lower secondary school, burnout increased among girls with and without any disabilities from 2019 to 2021 and remained high post-pandemic. For lower secondary boys, burnout increased only among those without disabilities from 2019 to 2021 and persisted post-pandemic. For boys with any disabilities, burnout began to increase post-pandemic. In upper secondary and vocational schools, burnout increased among girls and boys with and without any disabilities from 2019 to 2021. Post-pandemic, these increases declined.

Conclusions: Schools require resources addressing school burnout inequalities, especially during crises and among disabled girls. Post-pandemic, addressing persistent school burnout among lower secondary students with disabilities is crucial.


Ladattava julkaisu

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
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Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot
The research was carried out as part of the project entitled “Mental health and life satisfaction among youth with disabilities and experiences of services in the post-pandemic period (D-youth; Project number: 155419)”. It was funded by NordForsk. Salmela-Aro's research was supported by the Research Council of Finland (Project numbers: 345117, 359901 and 336138).


Last updated on 2025-23-09 at 17:50