Self-Efficacy and Social Skills: Mediators of the Relationship between Stress and Academic Adaptation

Abstract

Admission to the university is marked by demands for academic, personal and emotional performance, leading to stressful experiences. This study aimed to compare the variables stress, self-efficacy, social skills and academic adaptation among first-year and third-year students and to determine whether self-efficacy and social skills can mediate the relationship between stress and academic adaptation. The following instruments were used: Higher Education Adaptation Questionnaire, Academic Stress Scale, Higher Education Self-efficacy Scale, and Social Skills Questionnaire. A total of 606 university students participated. The t-test and mediation analyses were performed. As a result, third-year students presented statistically higher levels of stress than first-year students. Self-efficacy and social skills were able to mediate the relationship between stress and academic adaptation. The study was able to contribute to understanding how stress impacts academic adaptation.