Influences of Stress and Situation-Specific Mastery Beliefs and Satisfaction with Social Support on Well-Being and Academic Performance

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of stress and cumulative situation-specific mastery beliefs and satisfaction with social support on somatic and psychological symptomatology and academic performance of 146 college men. Stress was directly related to increased symptomatology and decreased grade point average, whereas mastery beliefs were directly associated with reduced depression and anxiety. Satisfaction with social support was related to anxiety through an interaction with mastery. Neither mastery nor satisfaction with support appeared to act as a stress-buffer through a statistical interaction with stress to moderate effects of high stress. However, earlier analysis of some of the same data showed that total stress, the best predictor of each outcome in this study, was reduced by the combination of strong situation-specific mastery beliefs and high satisfaction with support for subjects who faced many stressors. The combined findings show that situation-specific mastery beliefs reduced appraisal of stress and were associated with better psychological adjustment.

Social and study related stressors and resources among university entrants: Effects on well-being and academic performance

“…In line with this argument, research on student stress found that reduced academic performance is a likely response to elevated stress levels (Felsten & Wilcox, 1992;Robotham & Julian, 2006). We therefore expect that high study-related stressors result in reduced inrole performance.…”

Social support and psychosocial competence: Explaining the adaptation to college of ethnically diverse students

“…However, several studies suggest that the relationship between social support and college adaptation is likely to vary depending on culture and ethnicity. For instance, Felsten and Wilcox (1992) found that satisfaction with social support had no impact on well-being and academic performance in a predominantly white college sample. Liang and Bogat (1994) found that social support predicted maladjustment among Chinese college students but buffered stress among white college students in the United States.…”

Academic Stress as A Health Measure and Its Relationship to Patterns of Emotion in Collectivist and Individualist Cultures: Similarities and Differences

“…However, the picture is different for academic stress, which is regarded as an important factor in adjustment to university life and has been studied extensively (Gall, Evans, & Bellerose, 2000;Mallinckrodt, 1988). In general, academic stress and academic performance are inversely related among different groups of participants: metropolitan high school students (Gillock & Reyes, 1999), immigrant university students (Buddington, 2002), and diverse cohorts of traditional undergraduates (Felsten & Wilcox, 1992;Pritchard & Wilson, 2003;Russell & Petrie, 1992;Struthers, Perry, & Menec, 2000). Academic stress has been linked to lower academic grades, and also to lower persistence among university freshmen (Perrine, 1999;Zhang, & RiCharde, 1998) and older non-traditional students (Chartrand, 1992).…”