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According to Albert Bandura (1977, 1992, 1994, 1995), self-efficacy is «the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations». A person's attitudes, abilities and cognitive skills comprise what is known as the self-system. This system plays a major role in how we perceive situations and how we behave in response to different situations. Self-efficacy is essential component of this self-system. In other words, self-efficacy is a person's belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular situation. In the international literature, self-efficacy is an important topic among psychologists and educators. As Bandura and other researchers have demonstrated, self-efficacy can have an impact on behavior and motivation. To assess teacher self-efficacy, we applied the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale by Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001: for the Italian translation and adaptation we interviewed 200 teachers of primary and secondary schools * Questo articolo è il risultato del lavoro congiunto dei quattro autori. In particolare G. Domenici ha scritto il par. 1; N. Patrizi il par. 2; V. Biasi il par. 3; R. Capobianco il par. 5; il par. 4 è frutto della stesura a più mani dei quattro autori.

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The paper concerns a longitudinal empirical study aiming to establish the relation between certain factors that facilitate (or sometimes hinder) academic achievement such as motivation to study, the cognitive strategies employed and the levels of wellness or distress expressed by indicators like anxiety and depression. It thus aimed to identify the role of these factors on the risk of student drop-out. The study was carried out on a sample of 68 self-selected students enrolled in various degree courses at “Roma Tre” University, who had fully completed the three consecutive surveys geared to investigating their academic experience over a one-year period. The measurement tools used assessed: a) “drop-out intentions” (Hardre & Reeve Scale, 2003); b) “wellness/distress levels”, (Adult Self-Report ASR; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003); c) cognitive/study strategies (self-regulated knowledge; Manganelli, Alivernini, Mallia & Biasi, 2015); d) motivational aspects (Academic Motivation Scale AMS, validated in Italy by Alivernini and Lucidi (2008). The results show how that the drop-out risk is linked to high levels of depression or distress, poor competence in cognitive strategies adopted, and high levels of “Amotivation” and “External Motivation”. On the basis of the above empirical evidence we propose starting up specific ongoing actions within the university guidance services in order to simultaneously improve wellbeing through emotional support, redefine decisions in the study path in line with personal motivation, and develop adequate cognitive strategies to devise a functional study method.

Background: University students confront psychological difficulties that can negatively influence their academic performance. The present study aimed to assess several areas of adaptive and maladaptive psychological functioning among university students who request counseling services.Method: One hundred eighty-four young female students seeking professional psychological help (Counseling seekers) and 185 young female students who have never asked for psychological help (Non-counseling seekers) were asked to complete the Adult Self-Report (ASR) to evaluate both their internalizing and externalizing problems through DSM-oriented scales as well as their adaptive functioning.Results: ANOVA results indicated worse psychological functioning for the students who sought counseling. They reported lower score in ASR Adaptive Functioning Scales (i.e., friends, jobs, family, education), and higher scores in DSM-oriented scales (i.e., Depressive, Anxiety, Somatic, Avoidant Personality, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity symptoms) than the students who never asked psychological help. Furthermore, discriminant analysis successfully discriminated between the two groups of students on the basis of the ASR’s adaptive and DSM-oriented scales.Conclusion: The study findings could be useful to guide university counseling services in their screening activities as well as useful for clinical practice.

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The main aim of the present study concerns the analysis of the evolution of psychological distress during university counselling treatment, taking into account the initial mental health conditions of the students involved by means of standardized clinical measures. During a preliminary interview, we collected socio-demographic information, academic problems and health conditions of 110 university students who had requested psychological counselling. We applied the MMPI-2 questionnaire prior to the treatment, and we detected the evolution of distress by administering the OQ-45 scale at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-months follow-up. Results indicate that all OQ-45 dimensions register a statistically significative reduction during the counselling treatment. Moreover, the high correlations between the OQ-45 scale and MMPI-2 questionnaire underline the consistency of the evolution of OQ-45 scores starting from the valid initial mental health assessment carried out by the MMPI. In addition, we explored the predictive role of MMPI-2 dimensions on the OQ-45 scale: only the Psychopathic Deviation (PD) dimension appeared predictive of the positive evolution of the treatment. This is relevant considering a non-clinical sample of university students in which social maladjustment, self-alienation, and social alienation can represent a real high risk for academic success. In conclusion, data analysis shows the appropriateness of the combined use of MMPI-2 and OQ-45 questionnaires in psychological counselling in the academic setting to evaluate, firstly, the validity of the individual clinical profile and, consequently, the response to the treatment offered.