Exploring Post-Secondary Student Attitudes and Behaviors of Deliberate Rest and Impacts on Academic Performance, Burnout, Self-Efficacy, and Well-being

Pacheco, Paul

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Exploring Post-Secondary Student Attitudes and Behaviors of Deliberate Rest and Impacts on Academic Performance, Burnout, Self-Efficacy, and Well-being

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased burnout, worsened academic performance, and decreased well-being among college students. Deliberate rest, defined as taking breaks and engaging in enjoyable hobbies that recharge a person's energy levels, has been suggested to improve cognitive performance, and student well-being and reduce burnout. However, no study has explicitly attempted to uncover the true relationships or the magnitude of the effect that deliberate rest may have on post-secondary students. Further research is needed to understand the connection between student rest and these important factors to better design student interventions that foster community, increase student worth and efficacy, and promote a more sustainable and healthy work/life balance. The current studies examine the relationship between students' rest attitudes and self-reported rest behaviors with grade point average, academic burnout, self-efficacy, and well-being. Results show no link between GPA and student rest values/attitudes; however, findings do support the idea that students’ rest attitudes are molded by those around them. Results also indicate that increased burnout is correlated with decreased GPA (r = -.28, p < 0.5), quality of rest (r = -.57, p < .01), well-being (-.52, p < .01), and self-efficacy (r = -.58, p < .01). Results also uncovered a significant positive correlation between burnout and guilt while resting (r = .45, p < .01). Furthermore, thematic content analyses revealed five overarching themes for challenges first-generation students face when attempting to engage in deliberate rest, with the top three being: 1) Social and Emotional Challenges (46.5% of total codes), 2) Parental and Cultural Influences (33.7% of total codes), and 3) Academic and Professional Adjustment (9.3% of total codes). Overall, results do not indicate significant correlations between student rest attitudes with GPA, but do find significant negative correlations between student burnout, GPA, self-efficacy, well-being, and quality of rest among first-generation, community college, and international students. Qualitative analysis revealed that first-generation students often report feeling isolated from their peers and families due to the lack of relatability in navigating higher education. This isolation is potentially exacerbated by guilt, high parental pressures and expectations to succeed academically, and a lack of financial, experiential, or emotional support from their parents. First-generation students also often report striving for academic success to justify the sacrifices their families made to afford them the opportunity to pursue post-secondary education. This leads to increased pressure and stress, which may consequently explain why first-generation students experience increased burnout, decreased GPA, lower quality of rest, self-efficacy, and well-being while attempting to engage in beneficial rest practices. The results from this study lay the foundation for further research to conduct studies investigating how student attitudes and behaviors regarding rest are related to burnout, performance, self-efficacy, quality of rest, and overall well-being between and within college student groups.

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