School burnout and psychosocial problems among adolescents: Grit as a resilience factor

ABSTRACT Introduction The present study investigated whether grit can mitigate the associations between school burnout, loneliness, and depressive symptoms among adolescents. It also examined gender differences. Methods This study included 1296 seventh and 1166 eighth graders from Finland. The study variables were self‐reported and regression analysis was performed. Results This study found that two grit facets – consistency of interest and perseverance of effort – played resilient roles in school burnout. A high level of grit substantially reduced reported depressive symptoms when adolescents experienced high school burnout. Our further analysis showed that the role of grit was more pronounced among boys than among girls. When male adolescents were at risk of school burnout, both consistency of interest and perseverance of effort protected them and they had only low levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms. Conclusions This study demonstrates that grit can act as a resilience factor among adolescents.