Relationship between academic self-efficacy, performance and anxious and depressive symptoms in emerging adult college students

10.18800/educacion.202002.005 Artículo Relationship between academic self-efficacy, performance and anxious and depressive symptoms in emerging adult college students Relación entre autoeficacia académica, rendimiento y sintomatología ansiosa y depresiva en adultos emergentes universitarios Relação entre an auto-eficácia académica, desempenho e sintomas de ansiedade e depressão em estudantes universitários adultos emergentes Ana Gutiérrez García1 * , 0000-0003-1616-6390 María Landeros Velázquez1 ** , 0000-0001-5853-7618 1Universidad Veracruzana – México Abstract The objective of the present investigation was to explore the levels of academic selfefficacy and their relationship with performance, anxiety and depression in a sample of emerging university adults. 114 students between 17 and 30 years of age (SD = 2.12) answered the Academic Behavior Self-efficacy Scale, the Diagnostic Questionnaire for Depressive Disorders and an Anxiety Inventory. For academic performance, the average grade for high school education, the university entrance exam and the first semester of university were considered. The analysis of the measurement of the levels of each of these variables and their correlation indicated that the respondents who had low academic self-efficacy when entering university had the lowest academic performance during high school and a high level of anxiety upon entering university without symptoms of depression. Keywords: anxiety; emerging adulthood; academic performance; self-efficacy. Resumen El objetivo de la presente investigación fue explorar los niveles de autoeficacia académica y su relación con el rendimiento, la ansiedad y la depresión en una muestra de adultos emergentes universitarios. 114 estudiantes entre 17 y 30 años (DE= 2.12) respondieron a la Escala de Autoeficacia en Comportamientos Académicos, al Cuestionario de diagnóstico de los trastornos depresivos y a un Inventario de Ansiedad. Para el rendimiento académico se consideró el promedio de calificaciones del bachillerato, del examen de ingreso a la universidad y del primer semestre universitario. El análisis de la medición de los niveles de cada una de estas variables y su correlación indicó que los encuestados que tuvieron baja autoeficacia académica al ingresar a la universidad tuvieron el menor rendimiento académico durante el bachillerato y un alto nivel de ansiedad a su ingreso a la universidad, sin síntomas de depresión. Palabras clave: ansiedad; adultez emergente; rendimiento académico; autoeficacia. Resumo A presente investigação teve como objetivo explorar os níveis de auto-eficácia académica e a sua relação com o desempenho, ansiedade e depressão numa amostra de adultos universitários. 114 estudantes entre os 17 e os 30 anos (DP = 2.12) responderam à Escala de Autoeficácia em Comportamento Académico, ao Questionário de Diagnóstico de Patologias Depressivas e ao Inventário de Ansiedade. Para classificar o desempenho académico, a média das notas do ensino secundário, o exame de acesso à Universidade e o primeiro semestre universitário foram considerados. A análise dos valores de cada variável e a sua correlação indicaram que os participantes com baixos níveis de auto-eficácia académica aquando da sua entrada na universidade, também apresentaram um desempenho académico inferior durante o ensino secundário, e níveis elevados de ansiedade após a entrada na universidade sem sintomas de depressão. Palavras-chave: ansiedade; início da maturidade; desempenho académico; autoeficácia. 1. INTRODUCTION Emerging adulthood comprises the stage of transition between adolescence and young adulthood (approximately between 18 and 29 years of age), which also coincides with the entry of young people into higher education (Arnett, 2016). The entry of emerging adults into the university brings opportunities and challenges because many young people must become independent of their parents, which means that sometimes they must combine school with work or establish new social roles (Gutiérrez & Park, 2015; Peer, Hillman, & Van Hoet, 2015). The changes that are produced during this stage, together with the increase in academic demands, can hinder the successful adaptation of emerging adults to the university, and can generate high levels of stress, dissatisfaction or low academic performance (Arnett, Žukauskienė, & Sugimura, 2014). Factors such as self-efficacy are relevant in facing this transition stage (Krypel & King, 2010). In the university context, self-efficacy is involved in the judgments that the student makes about his or her abilities to organize and execute the different actions required (Sanjuán, Pérez, & Bermúdez, 2000). Self-efficacy is an important cognitive mediator of performance (Mafla, Divaris, Herrera-López, & Helf, 2019) because selfefficacy favors cognitive processes; that is, when students have an adequate level of self-efficacy, they can generate beliefs of expectation value, which would allow them to anticipate their actions and emotions in different academic situations (Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló, & Gómez-Artiga, 2017). Further, self-efficacy has some relation with metacognition, a process that allows monitoring and controlling cognitive processes and executive functions (GutiérrezGarcía, Huerta-Córtes, & Landeros-Velázquez, 2020; Medina, Castleberry, & Persky, 2017). Students with low self-efficacy often make more mistakes in metacognition tasks during neuropsychological tests, which result from the underestimation made by the student in relation to his or her judgment of personal performance based on the prediction and monitoring of his or her own performance (Gutiérrez-García & Landeros-Velázquez, 2017). This is relevant because selfefficacy influences how people feel, think and act (Bandura, 1997). A high sense of self-efficacy facilitates information processing and cognitive performance in different contexts, including decision making and academic achievement (Mafla et al., 2019). Since self-efficacy is the self-perception that each individual has over his or her abilities (Bandura, 1997), students with a high belief in self-efficacy tend to interpret academic work as a challenge to be faced in an efficient manner, whereby they trust their own skills, are more persistent, and make efficient use of acquired knowledge and skills (Honicke & Broadbent, 2016). All these positive factors are related to high academic performance (Denovan & Macaskill, 2013; Khan, 2013; Mafla et al., 2019). In contrast, a low perception of self-efficacy is frequently linked to a high rating on an anxiety index (Gutiérrez-García & Landeros-Velázquez, 2018), which in turn is related to low academic performance (Onyeizugbo, 2010). In addition, when certain situations exceed the individual’s abilities, the levels of self-efficacy decrease, and this can be a trigger for anxiety (Morales-Rodríguez & Pérez-Mármol, 2019), such as those that occur during the transition stage of the emerging adult (Arn (...truncated)