The mediating role of school burnout in the relationship between adolescents' perception of loneliness and quality of life

Tastekin, S., The Mediating Role of School Burnout in the Relationship Between Adolescents' Loneliness Perception and Quality of Life, Master's Thesis, Hacettepe University Institute of Health Sciences Public Health Nursing Program, 2024. This descriptive and correlational study was conducted to determine the mediating role of school burnout in the relationship between adolescents' perception of loneliness and quality of life. The research was conducted with 301 adolescents studying at Keçiören Şehit Özgür Kara Anatolian High School, which has the highest student population under Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education between September 2022 and January 2023. The data collection instruments included a Personal Information Form, the UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form, the Quality of Life Scale for Children, and the School Burnout Scale. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman correlation analysis were used to evaluate the data. To examine the mediating role of school burnout, a mediator variable analysis was performed using Model 4 of the SPSS PROCESS macro. Among the participants, 57.5% were female, 39.5% were in 11th grade, and 93% had siblings. The educational level of 40.5% of the participants' mothers and 43.6% of their fathers was high school. Additionally, 55.8% of the participants were satisfied with their communication with their teachers, 72.1% with their parents, and 72.5% with their siblings. The study found that adolescents had moderate levels of loneliness, school burnout and quality of life. A moderate negative significant relationship was found between adolescents' loneliness and quality of life. A low positive significant relationship was found between adolescents' loneliness and school burnout. There was a moderate negative significant relationship between adolescents' school burnout and quality of life. The mediating role of school burnout in the relationship between adolescents' loneliness and quality of life was confirmed. Based on the study results, it is recommended that school health nurses plan education and interventions that positively impact adolescents' loneliness, quality of life, and school burnout.