Effort-reward imbalance and academic burnout in adolescents: Sensory sensitivity and emotion regulation as mediators

Given academic burnout’s harm to adolescents’ well-being, exploring its links to effort-reward imbalance has practical value. This study investigates the relationships between effort-reward imbalance and academic burnout among middle school students, with particular attention to the mediating roles of sensory processing sensitivity and emotional regulation self-efficacy. A total of 1781 students (51.09% girls; mean age = 13.12 ± 1.01 years) from the western city in China participated in the study. Using validated instruments and structural equation modeling, the results indicated that effort-reward imbalance significantly predicts academic burnout. Furthermore, sensory processing sensitivity and emotional regulation self-efficacy each partially mediate this relationship, and together they form a sequential mediation pathway. Overall, both factors play a critical role in the link between effort-reward imbalance and academic burnout. These findings clarify mediating mechanisms underlying this link. Future longitudinal studies could further clarify the temporal associations and underlying mechanisms among variables, and develop targeted interventions to alleviate academic burnout.