Feelings of burnout, a psychological syndrome due to an imbalance in workplace or academic demands and available resources to address those demands, have been increasingly reported by undergraduate students. While not presently classified as a mental illness by the World Health Organization, burnout is associated with symptoms such as chronic fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal. In Canada, rising reports of hopelessness, depression, and overwhelming anxiety among undergraduate students highlight a growing mental health crisis in higher education. Despite this, limited research has examined the prevalence and patterns of burnout among students, and none have considered the Canadian university context.

This study examines the risk of burnout among undergraduate students at a medium-sized university in Ontario, Canada, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey (MBI-SS). The MBI-SS is a validated psychometric tool that measures burnout across three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. Students (n=1008) across various years and programs of study completed an online survey capturing demographic data, academic characteristics, self-reported grit, social network strength, general sentiments about university life, and the MBI-SS.

Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), implemented using the mclust package in R, was applied to the MBI-SS responses to identify distinct burnout risk profiles within the student population. The analysis revealed three latent sub-groups: a low-risk group comprising 51% of respondents, a medium-risk group comprising 21%, and a high-risk group comprising 28%. These findings suggest that while over half of students are managing academic demands without significant burnout symptoms, a substantial proportion is experiencing moderate to high-risk levels of burnout, with potential implications for their academic success and well-being.

Findings from this study can be used to develop, implement, and evaluate targeted interventions aimed at reducing the risk of burnout among undergraduate students. Future work will explore whether and how burnout profiles change over time (from the first year to graduation) and how they may vary by program of study.

Keywords: Latent Profile Analysis, Burnout, Undergraduate Students, Wellness, Maslach Burnout Inventory.