Re-examination of the digital burnout scale using second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the digital burnout feature among pre-service teachers

This study aims to examine the digital burnout scale in pre-service teachers and describe the occurring digital burnout. The research respondents consist of 150 prospective teachers from the Faculty of Education out of 1328 students. Data were analysed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test the digital burnout instrument and descriptive analysis to depict the patterns of digital burnout with three main indicators: digital aging, digital deprivation, and emotional exhaustion. The results of the CFA indicate that there are several questionnaire items with loading factors less than 0.50, specifically in the digital aging (DA11 and DA12) and emotional exhaustion (EX1, EX2, and EX6) sections. Therefore, these items were eliminated from the instrument. Descriptive analysis results show that 37% of pre-service teachers experience digital aging, 61% experience digital deprivation, and 20% experience emotional exhaustion. Overall, the digital burnout indicators reveal that 42% of pre-service teachers are undergoing digital burnout. These findings suggest that the massive and uncontrolled use of technology has proven to cause digital burnout. The study concludes that the used instrument is valid with the improvement of five questionnaire items that cannot be used with a standard factor loading of 0.5. Additionally, the research also concludes that 42% of pre-service teachers are experiencing digital burnout. Along with observing the aspect combination of digital technology and emotional aspects of prospective teachers, the utilization of technology in teacher professional growth will present positive results and avoid the digital burnout emergence in prospective teachers.