From academic stress to academic performance: A sequential mediation model of anxiety and emotional exhaustion among university students in Mongolia

Objectives This study examined the associations among academic stress, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and academic performance among Mongolian university students and tested whether anxiety and emotional exhaustion sequentially mediate the association between academic stress and academic performance. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 382 undergraduate students from multiple universities in Mongolia between March and May 2021. The hypothesized relationships and indirect effects were examined using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results Academic stress was positively associated with anxiety (β = 0.559, p < .001), anxiety was positively associated with emotional exhaustion (β = 0.454, p < .001), and both anxiety (β = −0.553, p < .001) and emotional exhaustion (β = −0.240, p < .001) were negatively associated with academic performance as measured by GPA. The hypothesized sequential indirect association from academic stress to academic performance through anxiety and emotional exhaustion was statistically significant (β = −0.061, p < .001). The model explained 48.4% of the variance in GPA. Conclusions The findings are consistent with a sequential stress-strain-outcome framework in which academic stress is associated with anxiety and emotional exhaustion, which are in turn associated with academic performance. The results underscore the importance of student mental health support and stress-management strategies in higher education, particularly in contexts affected by educational disruption and inequality.