Adaptability and Academic Development

Abstract

Adaptability refers to an individual's adjustments of their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions in the face of new, changing, or uncertain situations or events. The adolescent period represents one of the most rapid phases of human development, where significant and interrelated physical, neurodevelopmental, psychosocial, and environmental changes occur concomitantly with important changes in the educational environment. This entry examines the role of adaptability in adolescent academic development—through secondary education and into tertiary education—and the extent to which it is associated with academic and nonacademic outcomes.

Adaptability and Social Support: Examining Links With Psychological Wellbeing Among UK Students and Non-students

“…Adaptability is also grounded in lifespan theory of control (Heckhausen et al, 2010) and individual functioning approaches (Buss and Cantor, 1989), whereby students make necessary modifications in order to function more positively in one's environment. It follows then, that adaptability is of importance across the lifespan (Martin et al, 2012), and has been found to yield positive effects for different sample groups in a number of contexts (e.g., among students, teachers, teaching assistants, and others working in organizational settings, Holliman et al, 2019Holliman et al, , 2020Martin et al, 2019).…”

“…A developing literature has shown that adaptability is predictive of Students' academic outcomes across education sectors (see Holliman et al, 2020), and is also a critical element of (secondary, pre-16) Students' psychological wellbeing, as indicated by measures of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and sense of meaning and purpose (Martin et al, 2013). A common finding, which is compatible with the COR theory and model, is that adaptability may impact upon these important outcomes via behavioral engagement; specifically, students higher in adaptability are more likely to self-regulate in other situations, such as those involving task management or persistence (positive behaviors) whereas students lower in adaptability are more likely to maneuver defensively, by self-sabotaging or by disengaging (negative behaviors), in anticipation of lower self-efficacy and poorer performance (Martin et al, 2013).…”

“…There are growing concerns about mental health and wellbeing across the globe and in a range of contexts, such as in sport, the workplace, and in education: subsequently, it has become an international priority to ensure that people achieve the highest standard of mental health and wellbeing (World Health Organization, 2019). A growing literature has demonstrated the importance of a person's adaptability (that is, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional adjustment in situations of novelty and uncertainty, Martin et al, 2012Martin et al, , 2013 in predicting academic (see Holliman et al, 2020) and occupational outcomes (e.g., Martin et al, 2019); however, research examining its association with psychological wellbeing is sparse. Moreover, there is a need to examine the role of adaptability in different contexts to enhance heterogeneity and generalizability (Zhou and Lin, 2016) and to examine adaptability alongside social support (a well-established predictor of psychological wellbeing, e.g., Ryan and Deci, 2017;Li et al, 2018), so their respective unique effects can be determined (e.g., Burns et al, 2018).…”

“…Moreover, there is a need to examine the role of adaptability in different contexts to enhance heterogeneity and generalizability (Zhou and Lin, 2016) and to examine adaptability alongside social support (a well-established predictor of psychological wellbeing, e.g., Ryan and Deci, 2017;Li et al, 2018), so their respective unique effects can be determined (e.g., Burns et al, 2018). To fill the gap, the present work examines the extent to which the resources of adaptability and social support are related to a range of psychological wellbeing outcomes among three separate samples: adolescent Year 12 college students and university students (educational contexts characterized by change, novelty, and uncertainty, Holliman et al, 2020), and non-studying adults.…”

Collaborative approaches and adaptability in disaster risk situations

“…Adaptability refers to the ability of firms to respond positively and appropriately to changing environmental situations (Holliman et al. , 2019).…”