Immigration status, gender and school burnout in Finnish lower secondary school students: a longitudinal study

The aim of this longitudinal study among 9,223 students from 7th to 9th grade (age 13-16) was to assess whether immigration status and gender are associated with the level and change (slope) in school burnout among lower secondary school students in the Helsinki metropolitan area. 97% of the variation in school burnout was attributable to individual factors. Both the intercept (2.3, p < 0.001) and slope (0.5, p < 0.001) of school burnout were statistically significant. The slope showed increasing school burnout from grades 7 to 9. School burnout increased more in girls than in boys. Initially apparent higher school burnout among students who had immigrated to Finland within the last five years compared to Finnish native students was largely accounted for by sociodemographic and school-related factors. However, there was a persistent gender by immigration status difference in the fully adjusted model: recently (<5 years ago) immigrated boys experienced a larger increase in school burnout, especially due to increased cynicism, than recently immigrated girls.