Challenge and hindrance academic stressors, emotional exhaustion, and GPA: a prospective three-wave study

Academic stress may have different consequences depending on whether demands are experienced as challenges or hindrances. This study examined prospective associations of challenge and hindrance academic stressors with subsequent semester grade point average (GPA) and evaluated emotional exhaustion as an intermediate variable.

A multicenter, prospective three-wave observational study included 1,200 undergraduate students from four universities in Shandong Province, China. Challenge and hindrance academic stressors were assessed at baseline (T1), emotional exhaustion at T2, and end-of-semester grade point average (GPA) at T3. Multivariable regression models adjusted for baseline GPA and relevant student characteristics. Indirect associations through emotional exhaustion were estimated using 5,000 bootstrap resamples.

Hindrance academic stressors were associated with lower T3 GPA after full adjustment (B = -0.115, 95% CI -0.131 to -0.099), whereas challenge academic stressors showed a small positive adjusted association with subsequent GPA (B = 0.026, 95% CI 0.017 to 0.036, p < 0.001), despite showing essentially no bivariate association with T3 GPA (r = -0.007, p = 0.810). Hindrance stressors were strongly associated with subsequent emotional exhaustion (B = 0.587, 95% CI 0.556 to 0.618). After inclusion of exhaustion, the hindrance-stressor coefficient attenuated to -0.035, with an indirect association of -0.080 (95% bootstrap CI -0.099 to -0.062). However, hindrance stressors and emotional exhaustion showed limited empirical distinctiveness. In the sensitivity analysis restricted to institutionally verified GPA, the challenge-stressor association was attenuated and not statistically supported (B = 0.018, 95% CI -0.0003 to 0.037).

Hindrance academic stressors were associated with greater subsequent emotional exhaustion and lower GPA, whereas the adjusted association between challenge stressors and GPA was small and less robust in sensitivity analysis. The indirect association through emotional exhaustion should be interpreted cautiously given the substantial empirical overlap between hindrance stressors and emotional exhaustion.