Coping Strategies and Self-Efficacy in University Students: A Person-Centered Approach

Abstract

In daily academic life, students are exposed to a wide range of potentially stressful situations which could negatively affect their academic achievement and their health. Among the factors that could be weakened by academic stress, attention has been paid to expectations of self-efficacy, which are considered one of the most important determinants for student engagement, persistence, and academic success. From a proactive perspective, research on academic stress has emphasized the importance of coping strategies in preventing harmful consequences. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in discovering the extent to which individuals are able to combine different coping strategies and the adaptive consequences this flexibility entails. However, studies using this person-centered approach are still scarce in the academic context. On that basis, this current study had two objectives: (a) to examine the existence of different profiles of university students based on how they combined different approach coping strategies (positive reappraisal, support seeking, and planning) and (b) to determine the existence of differences in general expectations of self-efficacy between those coping profiles. A total of 1,072 university students participated in the study. The coping profiles were determined by latent profile analysis (LPA). The differences in the self-efficacy variable were determined using ANCOVA, with gender, university year, and degree type as covariates. Four approach coping profiles were identified: (a) low generalized use of approach coping strategies; (b) predominance of social approach coping approaches; (c) predominance of cognitive approach coping approaches; and (d) high generalized use of approach coping strategies. The profile showed that a greater combination of the three strategies was related to higher general self-efficacy expectations and vice versa. These results suggest that encouraging flexibility in coping strategies would help to improve university students' self-efficacy.

Cross-Sectional Study of Resilience, Positivity and Coping Strategies as Predictors of Engagement-Burnout in Undergraduate Students: Implications for Prevention and Treatment in Mental Well-Being

“…In the case of the association between resilience and coping strategies , the results showed that resilience is associated with a greater number of coping strategies –positive association with problem-focused strategies and negative with emotion-focused– especially in the case of perceived control, acceptance of change and perceived competence . These results expand on and refine those found in prior evidence ( 84 , 91 – 98 ), since the three behavioral factors would make the use of emotional management strategies less necessary; a higher level of self-regulation allows situations to be perceived with a lower level of stress ( 1 , 10 , 83 – 87 , 89 , 90 , 93 – 100 , 104 , 105 , 113 – 116 , 122 – 125 , 143 – 145 , 148 ). It is noteworthy that the stress tolerance factor (stress) was less related to emotion-focused strategies, which also implies a lower level of perceived stress ( 101 – 103 ).…”

Mental Health, Social and Emotional Well-Being, and Perceived Burdens of University Students During COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Germany

“…Further, under non-pandemic conditions peer support, social support ( 58 , 59 ) and self-efficacy ( 60 ) are next to other factors crucial for general well-being, life satisfaction, and also academic performance ( 60 – 62 ) especially in University students. Due to the lockdown measures and social distancing, especially the peer and social support (rather than family support) dropped out, which can explain the present results.…”

Flexibilidad en el afrontamiento del estrés y fortalezas personales en estudiantes universitarios

“…Este dato, así pues, es consistente con los estudios que, desde un enfoque centrado en la variable, encontraron una relación positiva entre estrategias aproximativas de afrontamiento y fortalezas personales (Freire et al, 2019;Gustems-Carnicer y Calderón, 2016). Asimismo, la relación entre flexibilidad en el afrontamiento y fortalezas personales evidenciada en este trabajo se suma a la incipiente línea de trabajos que vinculan la disponibilidad de recursos psicológicos personales con la capacidad del estudiantado universitario para conjugar de forma adaptativa distintas estrategias frente al estrés (e.g., Freire et al, 2020).…”

“…Esta incipiente línea de investigaciones abre la puerta al estudio de los recursos psicológicos personales que contribuyen a que los estudiantes más flexibles en su afrontamiento del estrés logren estados de salud mental más adaptativos. En este sentido, Freire et al, (2020) han evidenciado recientemente que la flexibilidad en el afrontamiento se relaciona positivamente con las expectativas de autoeficacia del estudiantado universitario.…”