School burnout is related to sleep quality and perseverative cognition regulation at bedtime in young adults

The relationship between school burnout and sleep is largely unexplored, especially in emerging adults. Two studies investigate this relationship, including associations with academic achievement. Study 1 (N = 350) documents robust relationships between school burnout and self-reported indices of poorer sleep quality, over and above negative affect (i.e. depression, anxiety, stress) using survey data collected from undergraduates. Higher school burnout also corresponded with lower grade point average after accounting for sleep quality. Studies 2a (N = 681) and 2b (N = 474) examined school burnout and perseverative cognition regulation across time using latent cross-lagged panel analyses and latent growth models with survey data collected three times over a semester. Findings suggested that although only a few predicted paths emerged between burnout and perseverative cognition regulation, increasing school burnout was associated with slower improvements in perseverative cognition regulation during bedtime. Limitations, study implications, and future research directions are also discussed. •School burnout associations with sleep quality and perseverative cognition, including indices of academic achievement, were examined.•Data were collected utilizing US tertiary education emerging adult samples.•Study 1 (N = 350) investigated school burnout, sleep quality, and GPA.•Studies 2a and 2b investigated school burnout and perseverative cognition at three time points over an academic semester.•Findings indicate school burnout relates to poorer sleep quality.•Over time, increasing school burnout was associated with slower improvements in perseverative cognition regulation.