ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative ICT Strategies for Inclusive Education: Enhancing Teacher Competencies and Student EngagementView all 13 articles
Development and Validation of a Digital Burnout Scale in Artificial Intelligence Era
Provisionally accepted
- 1Linyi University, Linyi, China
- 2Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
- 3Taylor's University, Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
- 4Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
- 5Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 6Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
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The current study developed a novel Digital Burnout Scale for measuring college students' digital burnout in the AI era. Guided by the Stressor-Strain-Outcome (SSO) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, it aims to systematically explain digital burnout's formation mechanism. Addressing the gap in comprehensive research on digital burnout in AI-enhanced educational settings, the scale incorporates six key dimensions: Digital Aging, Emotional Exhaustion, Cognitive Overload, Cognitive Dissonance, Digital Deprivation, and Behavioral Addictions. Following rigorous validation, the scale may provide educators with a reliable tool to assess student burnout, potentially supporting targeted adjustments to teaching strategies to reduce burnout and promote healthier digital learning environments. The study also highlights the value of an interdisciplinary approach (psychology, education, computer science) for understanding digital burnout's multifaceted nature, which could be important for supporting student mental health in the AI age.
Keywords: Interdisciplinary projects, Pedagogical issues, Evaluation methodologies, artificial intelligence, burnout
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Jinxia, Cao, Li, Pan, Zou and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lin Zhao, zhaolinjy@lyu.edu.cn
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