Viewing Teens as Responsible in Family: Implications for Chinese Youth's Academic and Social Adjustment.

This study investigated the longitudinal associations between academic and social adjustment and the mediating role of depressive symptoms among Chinese college freshmen using a three-wave longitudinal design. A total of 1183 freshmen (467 males; Mean age = 18.61 years at Wave 1) from eight Chinese universities participated in this study. Using cross-lagged panel analysis, the results showed that academic adjustment predicted increases in social adjustment over time, but not vice versa. Academic adjustment, but not social adjustment, predicted decreases in depressive symptoms over time. Depressive symptoms predicted worsened academic and social adjustment over time. Longitudinal mediation analysis showed that depressive symptoms mediated the effect of academic adjustment on social adjustment over time among Chinese college freshmen. These findings highlight the contributions of academic adjustment to social adjustment for Chinese freshmen and emphasize the need for Chinese colleges to promote freshmen’s academic adjustment at the beginning of college life.

This qualitative case study aims to investigate the most common factors that negatively affect adjustment to uni- versity and coping strategies used by first-year university students in the adaptation process from the viewpoint of first-year university students. The participants were 25 first-year university students from various faculties at Mersin University. The data were gathered through interviews, which comprised 24 interview questions devel- oped by the researchers. Collected data were content-analyzed following the process of identifying, coding, and categorizing data patterns. The results revealed significant factors that negatively affect the academic, social, personal-emotional, and institutional adjustment of first-year university students. These students' academic adjustment was negatively affected by relationships with faculty and teaching quality, whereas social adjustment was negatively affected by friendship relations, participation in recreational activities, and leisure-time manage- ment. In addition, individual factors, such as shyness, fear of failure/disapproval, loneliness, and homesickness, and institutional factors, such as sense of identity and belonging to a university, were perceived as prominent factors affecting students' adjustment. The results also indicated that these students mostly used avoidance coping to deal with challenges in the university adjustment process.KeywordsAcademic Adjustment, Coping Strategies, Organizational Adjustment, Personal-Emotional Adjustment, Qualitative Study, Social Adjustment, University Adjustment, University Students.Life transitions, including new experiences and changes, naturally involve an adjustment process in the lives of individuals. The shift from high school to university is one major life transition for young adults (Buote, 2006). This transition period is a change and adjustment process accompanied by significant challenges and stresses for emerging adults to meet the personal demands of the new academic and social environment (Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000; Chickering & Reisser, 1993; D'Augelli & Jay, 1991; Dyson & Renk, 2006; Erikson, 1968; Jackson, 2008; Lau, 2003; Tuna, 2003). In other words, university life requires that young adults learn to cope with various challenges and take actions to integrate into the university's academic and social life, meet academic demands, establish new friendship networks, become more independent, take responsibility in their personal lives, and make career choices (Alada?, 2009; Ayhan, 2005; Duchesne, Ratelle, Larose, & Guay, 2007; Gizir, 2005; Pittman & Richmond, 2008; Tuna, 2003). Actually, while most freshmen are able to deal with these transitional challenges and adjust to university life successfully, some feel overwhelmed and experience various adjustment problems (Bernier, Larose, & Whipple, 2005; Gerdes & Mallinckrodt, 1994; Kuh, 2005; Upcraft & Gardner, 1989; Upcraft, Gardner, & Barefoot, 2005) that lead them to drop out of university (Buote et al., 2007; Estrada, Dupoux, & Wolman, 2005; McGrath & Braunstein, 1997; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980; Robbins, Lese, & Herrick, 1993).Related literature considers university adjustment as a multifaceted and complex phenomenon (Baker & Siryk, 1984, 1986; Baker, McNeil, & Siryk, 1985). As such, the process of university adjustment is described mainly by identifying four types of adjustment, namely academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal/emotional adjustment, and goal commitment/institutional attachment (Baker & Siryk, 1984). Briefly, academic adjustment involves students' perceived ability to achieve school work and acceptance of the academic environment; social adjustment refers to dealing with a new social environment effectively such as by establishing positive and accepting friendships and being involved in social activities on campus; personal/ emotional adjustment includes the well-being of students; and institutional attachment refers to students' feelings of commitment to university and satisfaction with attending a particular university (Baker & Siryk, 1986). …

This study examined whether emotional intelligence is significantly correlated with social adjustment andacademic adjustment. It also explored the moderating effects of gender and age factors and their linked betweenemotional intelligence and social adjustment as well as academic adjustment among first year university students.289 first year university students (148 males and 141 females) at the Irbid Govern Orate, North of Jordan,participate in the study and were categorized based on two age groups, younger students between the age of 18 –25 and older students between the range of 26 and above. Two valid and reliable instruments were used to assessstudent’s emotional intelligence, social adjustment and academic adjustment. Correlation and multi-groupanalysis using structural equation model were used to analyse these data. The result shows no significantrelationship between emotional intelligence and of both social adjustment and academic adjustment. In addition,the moderating effect of gender was not found. However, the moderating effect of age on the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence with social adjustment and academic adjustment were established.

The study finds relationship between social and academic adjustments of BS students in University of Sargodha Pakistan. A sample of 550 BS students was selected from different departments through multistage random sampling. Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) was adapted with permission to measure the social and academic adjustments of BS students which has acceptable value of reliability coefficient Cronbach Alpha 0.90 after analysis of pilot testing data. In this correlational study, data collected through survey were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means scores, standard deviation, t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The study finds majority of students have moderate level of social and academic adjustment; Male students have better social adjustment but both have equivalent academic adjustment; boarders have better social adjustment than day scholars, students of 2nd and 8 th semester had equal level of academic adjustment but 8 th semester students have better social adjustment than 2nd semester students. It is recommended that students are provided with the opportunities of group projects, seminars and guidance and counselling regarding values of university education.

Research on the level of social and academic adjustment and the ties between both Syrian refugee students in Jordan is still insufficient due to the lack of research and interest among academics and researchers. This is happening even though the rise of refugees has impacted students from the Syrian Refugee Education Center SREC in Jordan in the last five years. Therefore, the current study examines the connection between social adjustment and academic adjustment among Syrian refugee students in SREC in Jordan. A total of 108 SREC-contained students from one school were studied. The results of the study showed that social adjustment is poor (52%) and academic adjustment is small (67 %). Furthermore, there is a statistically important negative association (-0.522) between the overall social adaptation and the total academic transition. In this report, the findings, shortcomings, and recommendations were also addressed.

This study examined the impact of a 10-hour teacher-student mentoring relationship on the academic adjustment of at-risk college students. A quasi-experimental design involving a comparison group (NM: students with No Mentor), a High Relatedness/Autonomy group (HR/HA: students who perceived high levels of relatedness and autonomy during the mentoring process) and a Low Relatedness/Autonomy group (LR/LA: students who perceived low levels of relatedness and autonomy during the mentoring process) was used for that purpose. Academic adjustment and performance were assessed before (Time 1) and five months after involvement in mentoring (Time 3) for all students. Perceived relatedness and autonomy were assessed after the last mentoring meeting (Time 2) for students involved in mentoring relationships only. Results indicated better social adjustment and institutional attachment in college for the HR students than for the LR and NM students, even after controlling for initial adjustment, performance and social network dispositions. In addition, the LR and LA students presented lower academic and emotional adjustment in college and lower academic performance than NM, HR, and HA students. The potential positive and negative impacts of mentoring relationships are discussed in light of autonomy and relatedness processes. Editors' Strategic Implications: Especially valuable is the articulation of why mentoring might be expected to affect social and academic adjustment outcomes via its effects on the development of autonomy and relatedness. Application of attachment theory and measurement to the study of mentoring is a strategy that shows promise.

Perceptions of competence and locus of control for positive and negative outcomes: predicting depression and adjustment to college

Social and academic adjustment deteriorate in the years preceding a psychotic disorder diagnosis. Analyses of premorbid adjustment have recently been extended into the clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) syndrome to identify risk factors and developmental pathways toward psychotic disorders. Work so far has been at the between-person level, which has constrained analyses of premorbid adjustment, clinical covariates, and conversion to psychosis. Growth-curve models examined longitudinal trajectories in retrospective reports of premorbid social and academic adjustment from youth at CHR (n = 498). Interaction models tested whether known covariates of premorbid adjustment problems (attenuated negative symptoms, cognition, and childhood trauma) were associated with different premorbid adjustment trajectories in converters vs non-converters (ie, participants who did/did not develop psychotic disorders within 2-year follow-up). Converters reported poorer social adjustment throughout the premorbid period. Converters who developed psychosis with an affective component reported poorer academic adjustment throughout the premorbid period than those who developed non-affective psychosis. Tentatively, baseline attenuated negative symptoms may have been associated with worsening social adjustment in the premorbid period for non-converters only. Childhood trauma impact was associated with fewer academic functioning problems among converters. Cognition effects did not differ based on conversion status. Premorbid social function is an important factor in risk for conversion to psychosis. Negative symptoms and childhood trauma had different relationships to premorbid functioning in converters vs non-converters. Mechanisms linking symptoms and trauma to functional impairment may be different in converters vs non-converters, suggesting possible new avenues for risk assessment.

This study explored the effects of parents' and students' communication patterns on students' social, emotional, and academic adjustment to college. It matched 118 pairs of parents and students ( n = 236) and asked them to report their frequency and mode of communication, as well as the first-year students' perceived adjustment to college. The results indicate that on average, parents and students communicate weekly, most often through text messaging. Parents tend to overestimate how well their student has adjusted to college, and asynchronous methods of communication such as texting or e-mail are more frequently positively associated with students' self-reported emotional and social adjustment, whereas real-time communication methods such as phone calls, video chats (Skype), and in-person visits are negatively associated with students' self-reported academic and social adjustment. Models of parent-reported student adjustment indicate that parents perceive their communication efforts as more instrumental to student adjustment than do students.

Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children's adjustment in high needs elementary schools

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of school life and to examine the influencing factors of academic adjustment and social adjustment in university students. This cross-sectional descriptive study by using secondary data from 2,064 subjects who responded to a self-rated student adjustment test. Descriptive, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Satisfaction with college selection, expectation for college, satisfaction with college service, emotional stability, and relationships with faculty were significantly higher among male students, whereas confidence in major, support from others were significantly higher among the female students. There was a significant positive relationship between academic adjustment and confidence in major, and between social adjustment and expectation for college. Confidence in major, relationships with faculty, emotional stability, expectation for college, satisfaction with college selection, and commitment to college life accounted for 31.8% of the variance in academic adjustment. In addition expectation for college, emotional stability, support from others, gender, commitment to college life, and satisfaction with college services accounted for 44.7% of the variance in social adjustment for university students. Overall, the results of this study suggest that understanding the levels of expectation for college, commitment to college life, and levels of emotional stability may be important for facilitating their transition and adjustment to university life.

This 16-year longitudinal study examines individual uncertainties concerning work and career, as perceived by 213 employed and unemployed Italian young adults, and reflecting the precarious situation in the Italian labor market in times of globalization. Predictors were individuals’ academic and social adjustment during adolescence and current characteristics of educational achievement and employment status. As expected, a two-group path analysis revealed that those employed perceived a lower load of work-related uncertainties than those unemployed. Moreover, the employment status moderated the associations between earlier adjustment and perceived uncertainties in adulthood. Whereas better academic adjustment was significantly related to a lower load of perceived uncertainties in the unemployed group, the association was insignificant in the employed group. Likewise, better social adjustment was only relevant for a lower load of uncertainties in the employed group, but not in the unemployed. The results reveal the complex role of early adjustment risks for successfully establishing oneself in a precarious labor market characteristic of southern European countries.

This study investigates the relationship between Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) and four key domains of student adjustment: academic, social, emotional, and institutional, within a Christian faith-based university in Thailand. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, data were collected from 204 undergraduate students using the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) and Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). The results showed a small but statistically significant positive relationship between SWB and academic adjustment (r = .172, p = .014), suggesting that students with higher spiritual well-being were modestly better equipped to cope with academic demands. However, no significant associations were found between SWB and the other three domains of social, emotional, and institutional adjustment, indicating that the influence of spirituality may be domain-specific rather than holistic. These findings challenge the prevailing assumption that spirituality uniformly supports student adaptation and highlight the complex and multidimensional nature of college adjustment. Moderate intercorrelations between academic and social adjustment, and between emotional adjustment and institutional attachment, further reinforce the importance of integrated support frameworks. This study fills a critical gap in Southeast Asian faith-based education research by examining domain-specific contributions of SWB to student adaptation. It underscores the need for educational institutions to design complex support systems that address students’ cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Practical strategies such as spiritual counselling, orientation programs, and faculty training in spiritual sensitivity are recommended. Future research should explore how SWB evolves across academic years using longitudinal or mixed-method designs and examine comparative outcomes in secular and non-Christian institutions to contextualize these findings across diverse educational landscapes.

The theory of stress and coping proposed by Lazarus and Folkman (1) is useful in understanding why some children adapt to functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) and others become increasingly incapacitated. In applying this theory to FGIDs, we make the assumption that abdominal pain is a stressor. According to Lazarus and Folkman, the personal meaning we attach to an event—in this case, an episode of abdominal pain—shapes our emotional and behavioral responses to the event. Given the same event, some people will anticipate harm, feel threatened, and try to escape the situation. Other people facing the same event will anticipate mastery, feel challenged, and take action to confront the situation. Applying this formulation of stress and coping to abdominal pain, we would expect that children’s pain appraisals and coping strategies would contribute significantly to their course of illness. Indeed, our prospective study of pediatric patients with chronic abdominal pain showed that those who felt most threatened by pain used passive coping strategies and had poor outcomes, whereas those who accepted pain and used accommodative coping strategies had more positive outcomes (2). Thus, whether children’s mastery efforts in confronting pain are negative, characterized by perceived threat and avoidance of situations associated with pain, or positive, characterized by perceived challenge and direct action, significantly influences their course of symptoms and disability. At times of stress, people may rely both on their own mastery efforts and on their social network. Thus, it is not surprising that children’s social relationships also influence the course of pediatric FGIDs (3–6). Interpersonal relationships associated with pain can be positive, characterized by support, or negative, characterized by isolation. Recent research shows that the quality of children’s mastery efforts and interpersonal relationships define 4 profiles of children with chronic abdominal pain (7), as illustrated in Fig. 1. FIG. 1 Patient coping styles vary by pain mastery efforts and interpersonal relationships associated with pain. Avoidant copers are characterized by poor pain mastery efforts and withdrawal from interpersonal relationships when dealing with pain. They view their abdominal pain as serious and themselves as powerless. They avoid others and tend to be depressed and incapacitated by pain. Over time, their withdrawal from activities may lead to problems of academic and social adjustment. Dependent copers are similar to avoidant copers in that they make little effort to master pain themselves. However, whereas avoidant copers withdraw from others, dependent copers seek social support. Indeed, their helplessness and catastrophizing about pain may elicit support from others that reinforces their disability. To the extent that they are incapacitated by pain, these children may fall behind their peers in academic and social domains. Self-reliant copers are characterized by high pain mastery efforts and refusal of assistance or sympathy from others. These patients are stoic; they attempt tomaster pain without letting others know that they are suffering. Because they continue their activities, their social and academic adjustment is not affected by pain. Stoicism exacts an emotional cost (8), however, which is reflected in depressive symptoms in some of these patients. Engaged copers are characterized by both positive mastery efforts and positive interpersonal relationships associated with pain. They engage in active problem solving and self-encouragement. In addition, they engage in social relationships and seek support in coping with pain, but are not dependent on others. These patients accommodate their pain and, as a consequence, continue to develop their social and academic competence. Of the 4 profile groups, engaged copers exhibit the most resilient, adaptive response to pain. By assessing children’s mastery efforts and interpersonal relationships associated with abdominal pain, practitioners can identify those who are likely to have poor outcomes and may need more extensive medical follow-up as well as referral to behavioral health providers.

Drawing on frameworks from marketing research literature, this study indicates that educational service augmenters (e.g., academic advising, writing support services, immigration advising, etc.) are significantly related to international students’ academic adjustment. The results indicate educational, campus, and social support services explained an additional 38% of variance in international students’ academic adjustment, beyond traditional predictors of academic adjustment alone, i.e., language proficiency, friendships, and welcoming campus attitude, for a combined 69% of the total variance in academic adjustment. The results highlight the university’s responsibility in international student integration into local communities and how educational service augmenters and traditional predictors act as complementary, yet distinct, predictors of academic and social adjustment.