Academic engagement in university students. The mediator role of Psychological Capital as personal resource

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a deterioration in the quality of life and, particularly, the mental health of university students. This situation highlights the need to offer coping programmes and preventive mental health measures. The effectiveness of self-care programmes designed to increase well-being in students has hardly been studied, although promising effects have been found in some studies in the work context (Gomez- Borges et al., 2022). In line with JD-R theory, we conceptualize and empirically examine two resources, self-care activities and Psychological Capital (PsyCap), as antecedents of academic engagement as a positive state of well-being or fulfilment. These personal resources, self-care and PsyCap, can play an important role in meeting demanding situations such as those encountered by students and, thus, contribute to their well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyse the mediating role of PsyCap in the relationship between self-care and academic engagement. The participants were 397 university students from two Spanish universities (77.8% women; mean age 26.08 years). The data collection was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used structural equation modelling (SEM), and the results showed positive relationships between academic engagement and self-care, on the one hand, and PsyCap, on the other. However, the total mediation model obtained better fit and results, highlighting the mediating role of PsyCap. Based on the results, we discuss the importance of self-care activities for university students and, above all, programmes to develop personal resources such as PsyCap, in order to enhance their effect on academic engagement.