Existential Anxiety, Financial Stress, and Academic Burnout among Adolescents; Moderating role of Mental Toughness.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between existential anxiety, financial stress, and academic burnout among adolescents. Moderating role of mental toughness between the study variables was also explored. Existential Anxiety Questionnaire (Weems et al., 2004), APR Financial Stress Scale (Heo et al., 2020), Mental Toughness Scale (Clough et al., 2002) and Burnout Assessment Tool (Schaufeli, Witte, & Desart, 2020) were used for data collection from 281 adolescents through convenience sampling by visiting different colleges of Islamabad and Rawalpindi district. The results in the present study showed that there is a positive relationship between existential anxiety and mental toughness. Additionally, mental toughness is positively associated with financial stress. Moreover, academic burnout is positively related to financial stress and mental toughness. Mental toughness positively moderated the relationship between financial stress and academic burnout among adolescents. This research has significant implications for educational and mental health professionals, who can utilize these findings to design interventions that foster academic engagement and equip adolescents with the skills needed to navigate stressors more effectively.