Although many studies endorse the notion that the way students perceive support influences their engagement, very few have explored the possible mediator role of intention to learn between these variables. The present work provides new evidence to the existing literature because it analyses the work of intention to learn (measured with expectancy–value beliefs and achievement goals) as a mediating motivational variable in the relation between university students’ external support (teacher and family) and their engagement. The Educational Situation Quality Model (MOCSE, its acronym in Spanish) has employed as a theoretical framework to perform this analysis. A sample of 267 Spanish university students completed the questionnaires employed to measure the considered variables at three times. They answered teacher and family support scales when the course began (time 1), intention to learn scales halfway through the course (time 2), and engagement scales when the course ended (time 3). The obtained structural equation models showed a positive and significant effect for teacher and family support on the considered motivational variables (expectancy–value beliefs and achievement goals) and these, in turn, on student behavioral engagement. These results allow us to point out a series of recommendations for university teachers to improve their students’ involvement in their learning process.

Título: Desarrollo y validación del Cuestionario de Personalidad Vocacional Adaptativa: un cuestionario para analizar la conducta vocacional de estudiantes universitarios. Resumen: Este estudio presenta el desarrollo y validación de un instrumento para evaluar la personalidad adaptado al ámbito vocacional: el cuestionario de Personalidad Vocacional Adaptativa (CPVA). 2160 estudiantes universitarios de los últimos años de carrera respondieron a la versión preliminar del cuestionario. Sus respuestas fueron sometidas a un conjunto de aná-lisis factoriales confirmatorios siguiendo un diseño de validación cruzada: en la muestra exploratoria (n=879) identificamos el modelo que mejor ajustaba los datos. Como esperábamos, el modelo presenta dos factores relacionados pero separados: Características Adaptativas de personalidad (CA) con 9 ítems y Características no Adaptativas de personalidad (CNA) con 11 ítems. En la muestra de validación (n=932) comprobamos si ese modelo presentaba un buen ajuste a este nuevo conjunto de datos. Los resultados así lo indicaron, apoyando la validez de esta estructura bifactorial. La fiabilidad de las dos escalas, CA y CNA es adecuada, así como su capacidad para pronosticar el criterio empleado, conducta proactiva en la búsqueda de trabajo. Este artículo incluye el cuestionario, las claves de corrección y los baremos necesarios para su uso. Palabras clave: Personalidad adaptativa; conducta vocacional; conducta de búsqueda de empleo; escalas; instrumento de evaluación.Abstract: This study presents a personality evaluation instrument adapted to the vocational setting: the Adaptive Vocational Personality Questionnaire (AVPQ). The questionnaire was developed and tested in a sample of 2160 university students in the final years of their degree programs. The purpose of the study is to validate the questionnaire, providing evidence about its internal structure and its usefulness for predicting scores on a criterion scale. A confirmatory factor analysis combined with a crossvalidation design was used: the exploratory sample (n = 879) helped to identify the model with the factorial structure that best fit the relations among the items. As expected, this model had two related but clearly separate factors: Adaptive Personality Characteristics (AC) with 9 items and Non-Adaptive Personality Characteristics (NAC) with 11 items. The validation sample (n =932) was used to test the generalization capacity of this model, which was satisfactory and showed a good reliability index. Regarding its usefulness in predicting proactive job-search behaviors, the results were also satisfactory. The questionnaire and keys are provided, as well as the criteria for calculating the scores on each scale and on the entire questionnaire.

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