The assessment of detachment among university students: Validation of the Recovery Experience Questionnaire in educational contexts

Abstract

Título: La evaluación del distanciamiento psicológico (detachment) en estudiantes universitarios: Validación del Cuestionario de Experiencia de Recuperación en contextos educativos. Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y validar el Cuestionario de Experiencias de Recuperación (Recovery Experience Questionnaire) para su uso en un contexto educativo. Hasta el momento, la evaluación del detachment o distanciamiento psicológico ha sido utilizada fundamentalmente en contextos laborales. El estudio tuvo como objetivo verificar la validez factorial y la validez de criterio, a través de la correlación con variables como la autorregulación, el compromiso (engagement), las estrategias de afrontamiento, y las dimensiones de la personalidad contempladas en el modelo de los cinco grandes factores (Big Five Model) en una muestra de 468 estudiantes universitarios españoles. Varios modelos propuestos en la literatura han sido probados a través del análisis factorial confirmatorio. Los resultados obtenidos confirmaron la presencia de los cuatro factores siguientes: el distanciamiento psicológico, la relajación, el dominio, y el control. Estos son los mismos factores que se han observado en estudios previos dentro de los entornos laborales. Las correlaciones obtenidas entre estos cuatro factores y las variables consideradas verifican que el detachment está asociado de forma positiva y significativa con la autorregulación, el compromiso, las estrategias de afrontamiento, y ciertas dimensiones de personalidad. Por otro lado, el detachment mostró una relación significativa y negativa con variables de tipo negativo como la irritación. Palabras clave: Distanciamiento psicológico; compromiso; irritación; autorregulación. Abstract:The objective of this study was to adapt and validate the Recovery Experience Questionnaire for use in an educational context. So far, this measure of detachment has mainly been used with workers. The study aimed to verify the factor validity and the criterion-related validity through correlation with self-regulation, engagement, coping strategies, and big-five personality dimensions in a sample of 468 Spanish university students. Several models proposed in the literature have been tested through confirmatory factor analysis. The results obtained confirmed the presence of four factors: psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control, as observed in previous studies within a workplace setting. Correlations obtained between these factors and the variables considered verified that detachment is significantly and positively associated with self-regulation, engagement, coping strategies, and certain types of personality; on the other side, detachment is significantly and negatively associated with irritation.

Psychometric Properties of the Recovery Experiences Questionnaire in Peruvian Teachers of Regular Basic Education

“…Although these results converge with the proposal by Sanz-Vergel et al ( 2010), studies carried out in other contexts have confirmed the structure of 16 elements; for example, the Argentine version for public and private sector workers (Trógolo et al, 2020), the Nepali format developed with nurses from university hospitals (Panthee et al, 2020), the version for Spanish university students (Merino-Tejedor et al, 2017) and the version for Japanese employees, although in the latter, a structure adjusted to 3 factors was initially identified, where psychological detachment and relaxation were condensed into a single factor (Shimazu et al, 2012).…”

“…It should be noted that in the initial work by Sonnentag and Fritz (2007) work stress and control over work were considered as contrast variables, identifying the inverse relationship between time pressure and recovery experience; as well as between role ambiguity and situational limitations with psychological detachment and control over free time, and between overtime compliance with psychological detachment and relaxation. In other works, the recovery construct was inversely associated with negative affectivity and exhaustion and was positively associated with vigor, self-regulation, commitment, coping strategies, and certain personality dimensions (Merino-Tejedor et al, 2017;Trógolo et al, 2020).…”

An Analysis of School-Life Balance in University Students in the Context of Covid-19 Lockdowns

“…The distinction between detachment with work and school may explain the negative relationship found. Previous research using the REQ in student populations found similar findings (Merino-Tejedor, 2017).…”

Decent work housebound: Recovery experiences of parents during the pandemic

“…Differently from coping, recovery is a procedural, continuous experience that does not respond to a specific event, which would be the definition of coping. Previous studies have compared both constructs and found low or null correlations between them (Merino-Tejedor et al, 2017).…”