Open Access
How has the COVID-19 crisis affected the academic stress of university students? The role of teachers and students
(Frontiers Media, 2021) Fuente Arias, Jesús de la; Pachón-Basallo, Mónica; Santos, Flavia H.; Peralta Sánchez, Francisco Javier; González Torres, María Carmen; Artuch Garde, Raquel; Paoloni, Paola Verónica; Gaetha, Martha L.; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have required substantial adjustments in terms of university teaching–learning processes. The aim of this study was to verify whether there were significant differences between the academic year of 2020 and the two preceding years in factors and symptoms and stress. A total of 642 university students (ages 18–25 years) participated by filling out validated self-reports during the months from March to August 2020. Using an ex post facto design, SEM analyses and simple and multiple ANOVAs were performed. Structural results showed that stress factors from the teaching process had a predictive value for the learning process, emotions, and academic burnout, and being a man was a factor predicting negative emotion. In a similar way, inferential results revealed no significant effect of academic year but did show an effect of gender on stress experiences during the pandemic. Aside from certain specific aspects, there was no significant global effect of the year 2020 on factors and symptoms of stress. The results showed that studying in the year of the COVID-19 outbreak did not have a significant effect on stress triggered by the teaching process. From these results, we draw implications for specific guidance interventions with university teachers and students.
Open Access
Effects of levels of self-regulation and regulatory teaching on strategies for coping with academic stress in undergraduate students
(Frontiers Media, 2020-01-31) Fuente Arias, Jesús de la; Amate Romera, Jorge; González Torres, María Carmen; Artuch Garde, Raquel; García-Torrecillas, Juan Manuel; Fadda, Salvatore; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
The SRL vs. ERL TheoryTM predicts that regulation-related factors in the student and in the context combine to determine the student's levels in emotional variables, stress, and coping strategies. The objective of the present research was to test this prediction in the aspect of coping strategies. Our hypothesis posed that students' level of self-regulation (low-medium-high), in combination with the level of regulation promoted in teaching (low-medium-high), would determine the type of strategies students used to cope with academic stress; the interaction of these levels would focus coping strategies either toward emotions or toward the problem. A total of 944 university students completed validated questionnaires on self-regulation, regulatory teaching, and coping strategies, using an online tool. ANOVAs and MANOVAs (3 1; 3 3; 5 1) were carried out, in a quasi-experimental design by selection. Level of self-regulation and level of regulatory teaching both had a significant effect on the type of coping strategies used. The most important finding was that the combined level of self-regulation and external regulation, on a five-level scale or heuristic, predicted the type of coping strategies that were used. In conclusion, the fact that this combination can predict type of coping strategies used by the student lends empirical support to the initial theory. Implications for the teaching- learning process at university and for students' emotional health are discussed.
Open Access
Resilience as a buffering variable between the big five components and factors and symptoms of academic stress at University
(Frontiers Media, 2021) Fuente Arias, Jesús de la; González Torres, María Carmen; Artuch Garde, Raquel; Vera-Martínez, Manuel Mariano; Martínez Vicente, José Manuel; Peralta Sánchez, Francisco Javier; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to establish predictive relationships of the Big Five personality factors (according to their self-regulatory level), together with resilience (proactive and reactive factors), for factors and symptoms of academic stress related to teaching and learning in the University context. A total of 405 female undergraduate students were selected, and completed questionnaires that had been previously validated in Spanish University students (Big Five personality factors, resilience, and academic stress symptoms and factors). A linear, ex-post facto design was used, including linear regression, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and mediational analyses. Specific linear regression showed the expected gradation: that self-regulatory personality factors (conscientiousness, extraversion) were positive linear predictors of proactive resilience, as well as significant negative predictors of stress factors and symptoms of academic stress; while the non-regulatory personality factors (openness to experience, agreeableness) showed little relationship. By contrast, the dysregulatory personality factor (neuroticism) was a negative predictor of proactive resilience, a positive predictor of reactive resilience, and positively predicted academic stress factors in the teaching and learning process, as well as stress symptoms. SEM general analysis showed that personality factors positively predicted resilience, and resilience negatively predicted factors and symptoms of academic stress. Specific mediational model analysis, with each personality factor, confirmed the different mediating relationships that appeared in the linear regression analyses. These results are discussed from the perspective of promoting resilience and healthy personalities in the University context. Implications for addressing academic stress at University are discussed.
Open Access
Educación de calidad y reconstrucción resiliente en el alumnado. Estudio piloto durante el confinamiento por la Covid-19
(Universidad de Granada, 2021) Artuch Garde, Raquel; González Torres, María Carmen; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Se plantea una investigación que tiene como objetivo evaluar la resiliencia de un grupo de 103 alumnos y alumnas de primaria y secundaria, a través de una encuesta online para conocer su percepción general y establecer las diferencias en función de la etapa educativa. El estudio se llevó a cabo en el mes de junio de 2020 cuando todavía todos estaban confinados en sus casas. Entre los resultados se destaca la importancia de trabajar con todos ellos la comunicación emocional con las familias, sentirse partes del centro educativo, desarrollar habilidades y destrezas y fomentar el conocimiento de sus fortalezas. Se encuentran pocas diferencias significativas entre estas edades (10-15años) y se propone tener en cuenta el modelo de Henderson y Milstein para desarrollar la resiliencia en el ámbito educativo.
Open Access
The proactive-reactive resilience as a mediational variable between the character strength and the flourishing in undergraduate students
(Frontiers Media, 2022) Fuente Arias, Jesús de la; Urien Angulo, Begoña; Luis, Elkin O.; González Torres, María Carmen; Artuch Garde, Raquel; Balaguer, Álvaro; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
The aim of this research was to delimit the predictive and mediational model of resilience between character strengths to predict flourishing, in a sample of undergraduate students. After signing their informed consent, 642 university students completed three validated scales (i.e., character strengths, resilience, and flourishing). Using an ex post facto design, regression, structural modeling, and mediation analyses were carried out, in order to construct a multi-causal predictive model. Results indicated a consistent predictive direct effect of character strengths on resilience and flourishing and of resilience on flourishing. As hypothesized, resilience also showed a mediating effect on the relationship between character strengths and flourishing. Additionally, results also revealed that the reactive and proactive factors of resilience were explained by different character strengths (e.g., emotional strength/cognitive, interpersonal strengths), reinforcing the idea that the two directions are complementary and necessary. Finally, several implications were established for the practice of positive psychology.
Open Access
Validation of the child and youth resilience measure-28 (CYRM-28) among Spanish youth
(Elsevier, 2022) Artuch Garde, Raquel; González Torres, María Carmen; Martínez Vicente, José Manuel; Peralta Sánchez, Francisco Javier; Fuente Arias, Jesús de la; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Objectives: This article presents a validation study of the 28-item Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28). The sample contained 365 Spanish youth ages between 15 to 21, from Navarre (Spain), all of them enrolled in Initial Vocational Qualification Programs. Method: The CYRM-28 was administered to students from 27 secondary schools in the province of Navarre. Confirmatory analyses were conducted. Results: The structure of the original scale was confirmed, as well as acceptable psychometric properties. Discussion: Findings add support to the CYRM-28 as a reliable and valid self-report instrument that measures three components of resilience processes in the lives of youth with complex needs. The CYRM-28 shows adequate psychometric properties, the CFA presents indices of goodness and fit (Chi-squared = 60,170, df = 17, p < .001; CFI = .960, TLI = .934, IFI = .961, RFI = .911 and NFI = .946; RMSEA = .084). Conclusion: Advanced statistical modeling yielded evidence that the scale, originally developed for use in several countries, can be used to assess resilience in Spanish youth.