Poster Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM: Room 163 [C7]

First-Year Undergraduates: Burnout and Acceptance Mediated the Threat Appraisal - Wellbeing Relationship

Presenter: Angelina Mojomick

Faculty Sponsor: Champika Soysa

School: Worcester State University

Research Area: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

ABSTRACT

Past research found that threat appraisal was positively related to test anxiety (Raymo et al., 2018) and burnout (Li et al., 2025) and negatively related to acceptance and gladness (Pellerin & Raufaste, 2020). Higher test anxiety (Bai et al., 2025) and burnout (Gilar-Corbi et al., 2025) were associated with lower mental wellbeing and higher acceptance and gladness with higher mental wellbeing (Pellerin & Raufaste, 2020). The preceding interrelationships have not been studied together in undergraduates. The first hypothesis stated that burnout, test anxiety, acceptance, and gladness will account for (mediate) the dispositional threat appraisal–mental wellbeing relationship in men and women. The second hypothesis stated that burnout, test anxiety, acceptance, and gladness will account for (mediate) the dispositional threat appraisal–mental wellbeing relationship in first- and continuing-generation college students (FGCS; CGCS). We studied 244 U.S. first-year undergraduates (women=59%; FGCS=40%) using a survey. Data were collected in person. Burnout and acceptance significantly accounted for the relationship between dispositional threat appraisal and mental wellbeing, but test anxiety and gladness did not, in men and women as well as in FGCS and CGCS. These effects did not differ across either gender or generational status. Threat had no direct effect on mental wellbeing either in men and women, or FGCS and CGCS after accounting for the preceding mediators. The hypotheses were partially supported. This study identified differential dispositional and cognitive features that concurrently impact the emotional experience of wellbeing in first-year students, suggesting that interventions targeting burnout and acceptance could increase mental wellbeing.

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