Swimming Upstream: Identifying student anxieties and solutions

This study explores some of the sources of stress faced by students in higher education. Research identifies an association between stress levels and students’ academic performance. This study aims to determine the sources, level and impact of perceived stresses among students in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, years of study and degree major. Participatory action research was explored as a means of developing strategies and solutions for students experiencing stress-related problems. Eleven undergraduate students were recruited initially as co-researchers with four academic staff and one research assistant. One student continued throughout the cycle with two others having to withdraw because of academic work pressures. A collaborative process took place using narrative storytelling and discussions alongside extra-sessional research. A range of outcomes is anticipated related to the students’ experience and academic achievements. Academic staff responsiveness and concern for student wellbeing and successful achievement will contribute to increased student satisfaction. Identification and development of systematic and effective ways of managing anxieties and sharing this with other HEIs will contribute to student wellbeing. In terms of academic outputs, a paper based on the pilot will be developed and acknowledgement of co-authorship appropriately made. A wider research proposal - inclusive of other universities and programmes can be developed for the future

Passion and motivation for studying: Predicting academic engagement and burnout in university students

Research on the dualistic model of passion has investigated harmonious and obsessive passion in many domains. However, few studies have investigated passion for studying and the role passion for studying plays in student engagement and well-being. The present study investigated the relationships between harmonious and obsessive passion for studying and academic engagement (vigour, dedication and absorption) and burnout (exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy) in 105 university students, controlling for the effects of autonomous and controlled motivation. Both harmonious and obsessive passion explained variance in academic engagement and burnout beyond autonomous and controlled motivation: harmonious passion predicted higher dedication and lower cynicism, obsessive passion predicted higher absorption, and both harmonious and obsessive passion predicted higher vigour and lower inefficacy. The findings suggest that passion for studying explains individual differences in students' academic engagement and burnout beyond autonomous and controlled motivation and thus deserves more attention from educational psychology. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

Psychology in Education and Health- Proceedings of the II Leipzig-Évora Scientific Meeting in Psychology

This ebook contains several papers on the application applied psychology in education, health and well-being, personality,family interactions and emotional and epistemological development.The aim of this volume is to inform the scientific community on the research on Psychology mainly made at Évora and Leipzig Universities, but also in other contexts like Mexico or Brazil.FC

African Americans and the effects of economic stress

Includes bibliographical references

Estrés y valoración cognitiva en estudiantes universitarios: explicación del burnout a lo largo del tiempo

This study explored the experience of students' burnout across time, aiming to analyze the possible differential impact of stress and cognitive appraisal on burnout. In addition, it investigated the possible mediation effect of cognitive appraisal on the relationship between stress and burnout. The study included 175 university students aged between 17 and 42 years old (M = 21.19 years; SD = 3.95), of which 155 were female (89%) and 18 were male (10%). We collected data in three different moments (Mt) through the following evaluation proto- col: Mt1 included a Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the Student Stress Questionnaire, the Cognitive Appraisal Scale, and the Reduced COPE inventory; Mt2 and Mt3 included the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. We used structural equation modeling analysis to test the hypotheses. The structural models tested indicated that the partial mediation model presented the best-fit indices, showing that stress and cognitive appraisal were predictors of burnout and that cognitive appraisal mediated that relationship. In sum, the results confirm the dynamic and chronic effect of academic stress on the experience of burnout over time. So, students and educators should be aware of academic stressors and pedagogical and life skills training programs implemented to provide better coping strategies to control burnout experiences.Este estudio exploró la experiencia del burnout de los estudiantes a lo largo del tiempo, con el objetivo de analizar el posible impacto diferencial del estrés y la valoración cognitiva sobre el burnout. Además, se investigó el posible efecto mediador de la valoración cognitiva en la relación entre estrés y burnout. En el estudio participaron 175 estudiantes universitarios con edades comprendidas entre los 17 y los 42 años (M = 21,19 años; DT = 3,95), de los cuales 155 eran mujeres (89%) y 18 hombres (10%). Recogimos datos en tres momentos diferentes (Mt) mediante el siguiente protocolo de evaluación: Mt1 incluyó un Cuestionario Sociodemográfico, el Cuestionario de Estrés del Estudiante, la Escala de Valoración Cognitiva y el inventario COPE Reducido; Mt2 y Mt3 incluyeron la Medida de Burnout de Shirom-Melamed. Se utilizó el análisis de modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para probar las hipótesis. Los modelos estructurales probados indicaron que el modelo de mediación parcial presentaba los índices de mejor ajuste, mostrando que el estrés y la valoración cognitiva eran predictores del burnout y que la valoración cognitiva mediaba esa relación. En resumen, los resultados confirman el efecto dinámico y crónico del estrés académico sobre la experiencia del burnout a lo largo del tiempo. Por lo tanto, los estudiantes y los educadores deben ser conscientes de los estresores académicos e implementar programas pedagógicos y de formación en habilidades para la vida que proporcionen mejores estrategias de afrontamiento para controlar las experiencias de burnout.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mental health promotion in schools : a comprehensive theoretical framework

Recent decades have seen a rise in mental health problems among children and adolescents. Despite a proliferation of studies describing effective school-based mental health programs, reviews of current research in this field suggest a strong lack of consensus concerning the definition of school mental health and its constructs. In the present paper, we set out to fill this gap via a two-step process: first, we offer a critical overview of recent research around the concept of school mental health; second, we propose a comprehensive theoretical framework for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers involved in mental health promotion and school prevention programs. The proposed framework comprises three key domains: the first two, cover the promotion of social and emotional learning and resilience, while the third concerns the prevention of behavioural problems.peer-reviewe

Co-rumination Partially Mediates the Relationship between Social Support and Emotional Exhaustion among Graduate Students

Graduate students regularly report high levels of stress and burnout. Many of those same students utilize social support networks, which can act as stress buffers. This study evaluated excessive negative talk about issues (co-rumination) and its effects on that social-support to burnout (emotional exhaustion) relationship and predicted that co-rumination would act as a suppressor variable. Graduate student volunteers (N = 213) reported their levels of social support, co-rumination, and emotional exhaustion. Data indicated that co-rumination did mediate the social support-to-emotional exhaustion relationship on two dimensions. This project purports that, while social support is important, the content of socially-supportive interactions may also be important when attempting to intervene in stressful situations, especially when those interactions involve co-ruminative messages

Maladaptive perfectionism and psychological distress:The mediating role of resilience and trait emotional intelligence

University students experience significantly high levels of psychological distress. Maladaptive perfectionism has been identified as a common trait among students that leads to diagnosed conditions such as depression and anxiety. Resilience and trait emotional intelligence have also been identified as common predictors of psychological illness and mediators between related maladaptive perfectionism. However, no current research has investigated maladaptive perfectionism’s relationship with a more general psychological distress experienced by university students. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate maladaptive perfectionism, resilience and trait emotional intelligence association with psychological distress in 171 university students (29 males; 138 females; Mage = 28.48 years; SD = 11.58). Results identified maladaptive perfectionism to significantly, positively correlate with psychological distress in university students. The combination of increased maladaptive perfectionism, low resilience and low trait emotional intelligence significantly predicted psychological distress. Additionally, resilience and trait emotional intelligence significantly added to the prediction of psychological distress, above and beyond maladaptive perfectionism. Finally, resilience and trait emotional intelligence both partially mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and psychological distress in university students. Findings suggest resilience and trait emotional intelligence to be important factors in predicting general psychological distress in student maladaptive perfectionists. The current study provided additional supporting evidence for the importance of resilience and trait emotional intelligence in intervention and prevention strategies for psychological distress in maladaptive perfectionist students. </jats:p

Relation between Resilience and Stress as Perceived by Nursing Students: A Scoping Review

Context: Prolonged exposure to stress can lead to psychological distress, emotional exhaustion, burnout, and impaired resilience in nursing students. However, resilience is known to mitigate the detrimental impacts of stress. Resilience plays a significant role in students' academic success and retention in academic nursing programs.Aim: This review aimed to conduct a scoping review of the literature addressing the relationship between resilience and stress among nursing students. Methods: A scoping review, based on PRISMA guidelines, of studies of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research designs that focus on resilience and stress relationships among nursing students. The search was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, EBSCO, ProQuest, and Medline electronic databases, via the Saudi Digital Library. It included studies published during the last six years. For this review, publications about undergraduate nursing students only were considered. All the included studies were critically appraised using the critical appraisal tool. Results: The screening method yielded 22 studies that met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Six main themes have emerged throughout this review which were: Sources of stress, resilience and stress levels among nursing students, the importance of resilience to nursing students, the relationship between stress and resilience, strategies to improve resilience in nursing students, and key variables in understanding resilience among nursing students. Conclusion: This review synthesized the evidence relating to the relationship between resilience and stress among nursing students. Evidence highlighted the importance of resilience in dealing with nursing students' stressors in their academic and practical life. This review showed that the educational programs that focus on building and enhancing resilience among nursing students were disparate, and they were not of direct and significant impact on improving resilience. Therefore, further research on introducing interventional educational programs that target enhancing resilience among nursing students based on their personality is recommended