Trajectories of university adjustment in the United Kingdom: Emotion management and emotional self-efficacy protect against initial poor adjustment

Abstract

Little is known about individual differences in the pattern of university adjustment. This study explored longitudinal associations between emotional self-efficacy, emotion management, university adjustment, and academic achievement in a sample of first year undergraduates in the United Kingdom (N=331). Students completed measures of adjustment to university at three points during their first year at university. Latent Growth Mixture Modeling identified four trajectories of adjustment: (1) low, stable adjustment, (2) medium, stable adjustment, (3) high, stable adjustment, and (4) low, increasing adjustment. Membership of the low, stable adjustment group was predicted by low emotional self-efficacy and low emotion management scores, measured at entry into university. This group also had increased odds of poor academic achievement, even when grade at entry to university was controlled. Students who increased in adjustment had high levels of emotion management and emotional self-efficacy, which helped adaptation. These findings have implications for intervention.

The Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale

“…Research also supports the idea that self-efficacy in relation to emotional information is distinct from actual skill, with evidence that ESE and ability EI are distinct constructs (Dacre Pool & Qualter, 2012a;Kirk et al, 2008;Nightingale et al, 2013).…”

“…Such effects are found in university samples (Dacre Pool & Qualter, 2012a;Nightingale et al, 2013;), but future work should examine the association between ESE and ability EI and how they both impact psychosocial functioning for young adolescents.…”

“…Previous research using the Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale with adolescents supported this idea in relation to sociability and depressive symptoms and changes in self-esteem (Alessandri et al, 2009;Bandura et al, 2003;Caprara, Alessandri, & Barbaranelli, 2010;Caprara, Alessandri et al, 2012), and studies using the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children with adolescents showed that confidence in one's ability to control negative emotions is particularly helpful for dealing with anxiety and depressive symptoms, which in turn shields youth against the development of emotional problems (Muris, 2001;Muris, Mayer, Reinders, & Wesenhagen, 2011). Further, in relation to adult studies using the ESES, there is support for the idea that all aspects of ESE are important for graduate employability and career satisfaction and for university EMOTIONAL SELF-EFFICACY SCALE FOR YOUTH 8 adjustment (Nightingale et al, 2013).…”

“…Further, there is one study that shows all aspects of ESE independently predicted educational and psychological outcomes when emotion management skills were controlled in analyses (Nightingale et al, 2013).…”

Experiential Avoidance Mediates the Association between Emotion Regulation Abilities and Loneliness

“…Recent empirical studies have uncovered a close relationship between emotional skills, such as emotional intelligence, and loneliness [15–17]. The findings showed that poor emotional skills increase loneliness over time [15, 16, 18]. Similarly, if people could effectively perceive and manage negative feelings associated with loneliness, they could successfully overcome loneliness [19].…”