A Structural Equation Model of Achievement Emotions, Coping Strategies and Engagement-Burnout in Undergraduate Students: A Possible Underlying Mechanism in Facets of Perfectionism.

Jesús De La Fuente,Carmen Laspra-Solís,Raquel Martín-Lanas,Irene Alustiza,Enrique Aubá,Cristina Maestro-Martín,Francisca Lahortiga-Ramos

doi:10.3390/ijerph17062106

Abstract

Achievement emotions that the university student experiences in the learning process can be significant in facilitating or interfering with learning. The present research looked for linear and predictive relations between university students’ achievement emotions, coping strategies, and engagement-burnout, in three different learning situations (classroom, study time, and testing). Hypotheses were identified for a possible model that would analyze the two facets of perfectionism based on these relations. In the case of perfectionistic strivings, the test hypothesis was that positive emotions would predispose the use of problem-focused coping strategies and an emotional state of engagement; in the case of perfectionistic concerns, however, negative emotions would predispose the use of emotion-focused strategies and a state of burnout. A total of 654 university students participated in the study, using an online tool to complete validated questionnaires on the three study variables. All students provided informed consent and corresponding permissions. Given the ex-post facto linear design, the predictions could be verified for each situation by means of logistic regression analyses and Structural Equations Models (SEM). Empirical results lent support, in varying degree, to the proposed theoretical relations. The testing situation was of particular interest. We discuss implications for perfectionism research and for the practice of prevention, education and health care in the university setting.

Highlights

The psychological well-being of college students is increasingly recognized as an important concern within higher education
In the case of positive emotions, the emotion of hope was powerful in negatively predicting strategies
The revised model by Lazarus and Folkman [36] already notes that the use of both types of strategies can be adaptive in daily life, the present study suggests a specific explanatory mechanism for the two types: (1) positive emotions, typical of the absence of stress, are most likely to result in the use of problem-focused strategies, with less focus on emotions, which in turn will give rise to a state of engagement; (2) negative emotions, typical of stressful states, would result in a preference for emotion-focused strategies, which would lead to burnout, and (3) the absence of positive emotions would lead to burnout

Summary

Introduction

The psychological well-being of college students is increasingly recognized as an important concern within higher education. The study of students’ emotional experiences in the teaching-learning context has produced a great deal of research on aspects not previously considered under the cognitivist paradigm. Such research seeks to explain to what degree emotional processes facilitate or interfere in learning processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The level of stress experienced by students who try to meet the demands and requirements of university study has captured the interest of researchers [8,9]. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 2106; doi:10.3390/ijerph17062106 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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