ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1625857
A Study on the Impact of Teacher Emotional Support on University Students' Online Learning Engagement: The Mediating Role of Academic Burnout
Provisionally accepted
- 1Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, China
- 2Chuang Ke Primary School, Dalian, China
- 3Harbin Normal University, Harbin, China
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Introduction: This study investigates the impact of perceived teacher emotional support on university students' engagement in online learning, with a particular focus on the mediating role of academic burnout. Although prior research has established that teacher emotional support positively influences learning engagement and that academic burnout has a negative effect, the underlying mechanisms among these three variables in an online learning context remain unclear.Methods: Participants were drawn from a public university in China. Data were collected from 361 undergraduate students through a structured questionnaire, and the relationships among the key variables were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).The findings indicate that teacher emotional support is a significant predictor of online learning engagement. Moreover, academic burnout serves as a mediator: higher levels of perceived emotional support from teachers are associated with lower levels of burnout and increased engagement in online learning activities. These results underscore the critical role of teacher emotional support in mitigating academic burnout and enhancing students' motivation and participation in online learning environments.Discussion: This study confirms the beneficial effects of perceived teacher emotional support on reducing academic burnout and promoting online learning engagement. The findings suggest that fostering emotional connections between teachers and students and addressing students' negative emotional experiences are essential strategies for preventing academic burnout and enhancing engagement in online education.
Keywords: perceived teacher emotional support, Academic burnout, Online Learning, Learning engagement, university students
Received: 09 May 2025; Accepted: 03 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Ma, Du, Zhao, Yang and Zhang. 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: Rongshuang Ma, Chuang Ke Primary School, Dalian, China
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