Adolescents’ Perceptions of School Life and Social Problem-Solving in Association with School Burnout

The aim of the study was to explore the characteristics of social problem-solving, school burnout, and school life of sixth-grade (12-year-old, n = 181) and eighth-grade (14-year-old, n = 196) Hungarian students, as well as the relationship between these fields, exploring profiles based on connections between measured areas. Three questionnaires were used in the study: Social Problem-Solving Inventory–Revised; School Burnout Inventory and School Life Questionnaire. We identified similar profiles in both social problem-solving (e.g., rejective and optimistic-reflective) and school life (e.g., negative school experience with low support and positive school adjustment with high support) in both age groups. The association between students’ social problem-solving and school life profiles and their level of school burnout was tested using multinomial logistic regression analyses. A structural equation model was specified to assess the interrelations among school life experiences, social problem-solving processes, and school burnout. Among sixth graders, a more positive school environment was associated with higher levels of adaptive social problem-solving and lower levels of maladaptive social problem-solving. In contrast, none of the predictors in the model showed a significant correlation with school burnout. In the case of eighth graders, school life factors only showed a significant positive correlation with adaptive social problem-solving. The findings refine existing assumptions by showing that while students’ social problem-solving tendencies and school experiences are interrelated, their contribution to burnout differs in early adolescent stages.