Spanish Undergraduates Research Articles

The Developmental Assets Model for Positive Youth Development and Social Contribution: A Qualitative Study of Spanish Undergraduates

Relational developmental systems theory integrates a positive youth development (PYD) perspective on the transition to adulthood. Meanwhile, the developmental assets (DAs) model describes the personal and contextual resources that nurture PYD. This study examined the fulfillment of DAs and experience of social contribution in a sample of 23 Spanish undergraduates from seven universities (age range 18–25, Mage = 20.57, SD = 2.06). Data were collected from seven focus groups, each comprising undergraduate students from different academic years, universities, and degree programs. All interviews were conducted in Spanish for 50–65 min and comprised eight questions divided into three sections (internal assets, external assets, and social contribution and barriers). The results indicated that among internal assets, positive values, social competencies, and positive identity were important for adolescents. Additionally, the external asset of social support was a highly relevant resource. Regarding social contribution, the participants showed empathy towards the needs of the community and reported that helping others was rewarding. Clearly, the youth’s perspectives on their development should be considered while creating prevention and promotion programs that foster internal and external assets.

Strategies of sexual refusal in effervescent nightlife settings: A study of Spanish university students

A growing body of studies focuses on sexual harassment and violence in nightlife venues, primarily as it affects adolescent and adult women. In these settings, the boundary between flirtation and unwanted sexual attention easily blurs. This study examines how young women reject such attention. It draws on in-depth interviews with 53 Spanish undergraduates aged 18 to 25 from a Madrid public university. The findings unveil both individual strategies for sexual refusal (e.g., ignoring, distancing, lying) as well as collective strategies (e.g., using friends as mediators or protectors). The interviewed women perceived these actions as emotionally and practically challenging. These results advance the understanding of interactions in situations of collective effervescence, which may be conducive of transgression and sexual violence.

Impact of alcohol consumption and diet on quality of life in higher education. A structural equation model.

Alcohol consumption among Spanish undergraduates during their university time has increased exponentially in recent years. In addition, this lifestyle change is associated with abandoning the Mediterranean diet, increasing the risk of suffering some kind of injury and affecting their quality of life. The study was carried out with a sample of 1,057 Spanish university students, 12.1% (n = 127) of them women and 87.9% (n= 930) men. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to measure health-related quality of life, the MEDAS test to check adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and the AUDIT test to measure alcohol consumption. The results show an inverse relationship between injury and quality of life (β= -0.020) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (β= -0.042) among students who have suffered some kind of injury. On the other hand, there was a positive relationship with alcohol consumption (β= -0.046). The main conclusion is that lower alcohol consumption and higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a better quality of life and a reduced risk of injury in undergraduates in southern Spain.

Study regarding the influence of a student’s personality and an LMS usage profile on learning performance using machine learning techniques

Academic performance (AP) is crucial for lifelong success. Unfortunately, many students fail to meet expected academic benchmarks, leading to altered career paths or university dropouts. This issue is particularly pronounced in the early stages of higher education, highlighting the need for the instructors of these foundational courses to have access to simple yet effective tools for the early identification of students at high risk of academic failure. In this study, we propose a streamlined conceptual model inspired by the Model of Human Behavior (MHB) to which we have incorporated two dimensions: capacity and willingness. These dimensions are assessed through the definition of three variables: Prior Academic Performance (PAP), Personality and Academic Engagement, whose measurements can easily be obtained by the instructors. Furthermore, we outline a Machine Learning (ML) process that higher education instructors can use to create their own tailored models in order to predict AP and identify risk groups with high levels of transparency and interpretability. The application of our approach to a sample of 322 Spanish undergraduates studying two mathematical subjects at a Spanish university demonstrates its potential to detect failure early in the semester with a precision that is comparable with that of more complex models found in literature. Our tailored model identified that capacity was the primary predictor of AP, with a gain-to-baseline improvement of 21%, and the willingness variables increasing this to 27%. This approach is consistent over time. Implications for instructors are discussed and an open prediction and analysis tool is developed.

Relationship between Mediterranean diet, physical activity and emotional intelligence in Spanish undergraduates

Levels of adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Spanish university students need to be verified. It is necessary to go deeper into what these are and what factors determine them. This is useful to design effective diet promotion proposals in this population. The objectives are: 1) To classify Spanish university students of Education Degrees according to their levels of Mediterranean diet, physical activity and emotional intelligence; 2) To analyse the influence of physical activity and emotional intelligence as determinants of Mediterranean diet according to lifestyle profiles. A cross-sectional study was designed with the participation of a representative sample of university students of education degrees. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 43 years (20.84±2.90). Men represented 30.2% of the sample (n=125) and women 69.8% (n=289). An online questionnaire was administered comprising the following: PREDIMED, IPAQ-SF and TMMS-24. The regression model obtained for the whole sample was: Mediterranean diet= 2.536+0.001*physical activity+0.029*emotional intelligence. The two-stage cluster classification (Ward and k-means) was validated with the MANOVA test (Pillai trace: F (6, 820) = 159.101; p ≤ 0.001; f = 1.00). It is concluded that 8% of university students' adherence to the Mediterranean diet is predicted by moderate-vigorous physical activity and emotional intelligence. Adherence to the diet is positively related to physical activity and emotional intelligence. Keywords: lifestyles; moderate-vigorous physical activity; Spain; cluster analysis; regression model.

Impact of Physical Activity and Bio-Psycho-Social Factors on Social Network Addiction and Gender Differences in Spanish Undergraduate Education Students.

Social network use has increased in recent years. Social networks are fast-changing and may cause negative effects such as dependence and addiction. Hence, it was decided to establish two research aims: (1) to identify the social network used by university students and their use levels according to their sex and (2) to analyse how age, body mass index, physical activity, emotional intelligence and social network type affect addiction to social networks according to young people's sex. A cross-sectional study was designed involving Spanish university students from Education Degrees. The mean age of the participants was 20.84 years (±2.90). Females made up 69.8% of the sample and males 30.2%. An online questionnaire was administered that included sociodemographic questions, IPAQ-SF and TMMS-24. This study found that all students use WhatsApp and more than 97% have YouTube and Instagram accounts. The linear regression model obtained was as follows: social network addiction = 3.355 + 0.336*emotional attention - 0.263*emotional clarity. There is a positive relationship between social network addiction and emotional attention (r = 0.25; p < 0.001) and negative relationships between social network addiction and emotional clarity (r = -0.16; p = 0.002) and between social network addiction and age (r = -0.17; p = 0.001). University students report lower levels of social network addiction and slightly higher levels of social network addiction among females. In addition, there are significant differences between the average social network addiction scores of university students in terms of their use of Telegram, TikTok and Twitch.

Influence of internship, service learning and student mobility programmes on the development of critical thinking disposition in higher education

A willingness to explore new ideas and to maintain reflective skepticism is necessary to exercise critical citizenship. Importantly, the disposition to think critically is a dynamic (rather than static) characteristic of a person that can be developed through different educational experiences. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of three applied learning experiences – namely, internships, service learning and participation in international mobility programmes – on higher education students' disposition toward critical thinking. Participants were 147 Spanish undergraduates aged between 17 and 24 years (M = 18.36, SD = 1.16; 69.39% women). They were enrolled in degree programmes in the fields of social and legal sciences (81.6% of students) and engineering and architecture (18.4%). Critical thinking disposition was assessed at two time points: at the beginning of their undergraduate studies and at the end of year 2, by which time some students had participated in applied learning experiences. No changes were found in the disposition toward critical thinking of students who did not participate in experiences of this kind. However, students who had engaged in service learning projects showed gains in their critical thinking disposition. Contrary to expectations, no significant improvement in critical thinking disposition was observed among students who carried out internships or participated in mobility programmes. These findings emphasize the importance of promoting service learning experiences in higher education so as to promote and develop students' disposition toward critical thinking.

Socio-Demographic Differences in Positive Youth Development in Spanish Undergraduates

The positive youth development (PYD) model is a strength-based conceptualization of the transition to adulthood, in which the relationships that individuals establish within this context are essential. These adaptive contextual–individual interactions allow youths to acquire better psychological adjustment and greater social participation. The PYD model differentiates five areas to be nurtured (the 5Cs) in young people: confidence, competence, connection, caring, and character. The present work aimed to examine differences in overall PYD and its respective 5Cs among Spanish university students based on their socio-demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional study with 1038 students between 18 and 28 years old from 11 Spanish universities was conducted. In order to assess the 5Cs, the Spanish adaptation of the 5Cs of the PYD Short Form was used. When analyzing the variability of the 5Cs according to socio-demographic variables, some relevant differences were found, though with small effect sizes. Students with better scores on the 5Cs included those who were living in the countryside or big cities, studied Social Sciences, were enrolled in small universities, had parents with a high education level, and those who reported high socio-economic status. Women presented higher scores in terms of connection, caring, and character, whereas men reported more perceived competence and confidence, which may be due to gender socialization during adolescence and youth. Families with parents with a higher level of education and of a higher socio-economic level may offer more resources and support greater positive youth development. These social inequalities in PYD may suggest the need for the promotion of equal opportunities in education, health promotion, and social participation, which may allow young people from all backgrounds to develop their individual potential.

An analysis of the psychometric properties of the writing-specific cognitive strategies questionnaire for undergraduate students.

Writing strategies are needed to manage the complexity of writing tasks, especially at university, where writing tasks are for learning, professional, or scientific purposes and are highly demanding. The literature shows that many undergraduate students have defined, stable, writing strategies, although some lack proper strategic development and require explicit instruction in this regard. In both cases, adapting writing tasks to undergraduate students' preferences and instructing them effectively requires understanding their writing strategies, which will encourage optimal learning and writing proficiency. This is why valid, reliable, writing strategy assessment tools are essential. The present study focused on the validation of the Spanish Writing Strategies Questionnaire-Undergraduate Students (WSQ-SU), aimed at measuring undergraduate students' preferences for using different writing strategies. The sample comprised 978 Spanish undergraduates doing degrees in Infant, Primary or Social Education, Pedagogy and Psychology. The data from the questionnaire was explored by means of exploratory and confirmatory analysis, test-retest reliability to analyse temporal stability and convergent validity. Two factors, planning and revising, were identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, representing different writing strategies and supporting the original model. The results indicated adequate test-retest reliability and temporal stability. The results also showed the questionnaire's convergent validity; a direct, linear correlation between two factors and off-line planning and revising variables. Based on the results, the WSQ for undergraduate students-Spanish version has been shown to be a reliable and valid, scale that can be easily applied in the university context to explore undergraduate students' writing strategies.

How does financial literacy influence undergraduates’ risk-taking propensity?

Previous evidence is contradictory about the financial literacy-individual’s risk-taking propensity relationship. Therefore, this article attempts to examine the relationship between financial literacy and risk-taking propensity in a university environment, considering for the first time the financial literacy’s multidimensional nature (i.e., financial knowledge, financial attitude, and financial behaviour). Applying Covariance-Based Structural Equation Models to 568 Spanish undergraduates, our results show that: (1) financial knowledge and financial behaviour directly and positively affect risk-taking propensity; (2) financial attitude indirectly and positively affects risk-taking propensity through financial behaviour. These findings are relevant since they provide new insights into the association mechanism that explains the financial literacy-undergraduates’ risk-taking propensity relationship.

Motivation and investment

Abstract The purpose of the present study is to offer insights into how Spanish undergraduates, who were mid-way through an English-medium programme at a university in Catalonia, articulate their past decision to study an academic subject in English. Economics students (34 in total) completed an oral elicitation task and the monologues yielded were analysed using thematic analysis. Three dominant themes emerged: (1) The right fit for me; (2) To practise my English; and (3) English comes with benefits. Each of these themes is presented as a composite description of the students’ ideas about their past choice from the temporal position of the here-and-now, and explored through distinct but complementary social psychological and sociological lenses. The present study finds threads running through the students’ narratives of a near effortlessness to choose to learn in this way, as well as an understanding of the capital value of English. For some, their sole stated motive was to develop and preserve this linguistic asset.

Psychometric properties of the Purpose In Life-Short Form in the Spanish population.

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Purpose in Life Test-Short Form (PIL-SF), a brief self-report measure of the presence of meaning in life (MiL). Participants were 349 nonclinical Spanish undergraduates (225 women, 64.5%, and 124 men, 35.5%), age ranged between 18 and 26 years (M = 20.85; SD = 2.16). The PIL-SF, the Seeking of Noetic Goals-8 Items (SONG-8), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) were used. Descriptive analysis, estimation of the internal consistency, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the PIL-SF were conducted, and correlations between the PIL-SF and the SONG-8, the SWLS, and the OHQ were calculated. The PIL-SF showed good internal consistency and an excellent fit as a unidimensional scale confirming its factorial structure. Regarding construct validity, correlations between the PIL-SF and SWLS (r= 0.59) and OHQ (r = 0.56) were positive, significant (p < 0.001), while correlation between PIL-SF and SONG-8 was negative, significant (r = -0.23, p < 0.001). The Spanish adaptation of PIL-SF seems to be a valid measure of MiL with good internal consistency.

Assessing emotional, empathic and coping skills in Spanish undergraduates in Health Sciences and Social Sciences

Background: Higher education is considered to be one of the phases in the life cycle that produces psychological distress and academic pressure. The aim of the study was to assess to assess the emotional, empathic and coping skills of undergraduate students of Health Sciences and Social Sciences undergraduates using an explorative approach in a cross sectional study. Methods: A sample of 693 first-to-fourth-year students enrolled in different degree courses. We used an “ad hoc” questionnaire, the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24), Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24), The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Brief COPE. Results: We found higher scores in capacity for empathy using the IRI, in emotional intelligence by TMMS-24 and a good coping style and adaptive strategies measured on the COPE, however, emotion regulation scores in DERS were medium. We found interesting relationships between female, first-year course, sport, anxiety and degree course in empathy, emotional intelligence, adaptative strategies and emotional regulation. Conclusions: Preventive and train measures in emotional and psychosocial resources are needed in higher education to achieve the highest possible level of psycho- emotional well-being. Keywords: emotional intelligence, empathy, coping skills, subjective well-being, students.

Integrating self-regulated learning and individual differences in the prediction of university academic achievement across a three-year-long degree

The study investigated the joint contribution of the self-regulated learning (SRL) and individual differences approaches to the prediction of university students’ grade point average (GPA) obtained at three separate time points throughout their degree (3 years). We assessed cognitive (i.e., previous academic performance, cognitive ability, and cognitive SRL strategies) and non-cognitive variables (i.e., personality, trait emotional intelligence, motivation, and non-cognitive SRL strategies) in a sample of Spanish undergraduates. Results showed that GPA correlated with previous academic performance (i.e., combination of high school’s GPA and college admission test score), academic self-efficacy, academic engagement, SRL strategies, and conscientiousness. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that non-cognitive factors (i.e., academic engagement, academic self-efficacy, regulation of behavior and context, and conscientiousness) alone explained 17–25% of the variance in GPA across three years, and previous academic performance accounted up to an additional 25% of the variance, jointly reaching an explained variance of up to 50% in GPA. Specifically, academic engagement and regulation of behavior and context demonstrated incremental validity over and above cognitive predictors such as previous academic performance, inductive reasoning and regulation of cognition and metacognition. The role of intelligence, whether cognitive or emotional, was not as obvious as a predictor. Two nested structural equation models explained about 27–29% of the variance in a latent GPA factor exclusively from a proxy of a global variable of non-cognitive factors as a latent predictor, which is a novel and promising proof of its robust criterion validity. Implications and recommendations for future studies are discussed.

Character strengths and mental health as complex systems: a network analysis to identify bridge strengths

The network approach poses an alternative focus to understand psychological constructs as emerging from mutual interactions among indicators. Network psychometrics has been applied to psychopathology to unravel the connections between symptoms, but it can also be applied to the study of well-being. The role of character strengths in mental health is at the forefront of research attention. Previous findings suggest that heart character strengths are more predictive of mental health than mind character strengths. Nevertheless, researchers have rarely applied the network approach in this context. The present study examines, from the network approach, the connections between heart and mind character strengths and mental health. Building upon the dual-factor model of mental health, positive (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction) and negative indicators (i.e., depression) were included in the assessment of this construct. A sample of 597 Spanish undergraduates (M = 23.52; SD = 5.25; 75.6% females) completed cross-sectional self-report measures. Network analysis was used to estimate a network composed of two communities: character strengths and mental health. We used centrality analysis to calculate the importance of each node and bridge centrality to examine the interactions between the communities. The results indicated that the heart strengths of love, zest, hope, and gratitude reported the highest bridge strength centrality, suggesting that they played an intermediary role activating and deactivating components of mental health. Adopting the network approach to explore the connections between character strengths and mental health can help design focused intervention strategies in psychology.

Understanding EFL reading anxiety in relation to learning motivation, attitudes and strategies for Chinese and Spanish undergraduates

The present study explored the relationships between English as a foreign language (EFL) reading anxiety and learning motivation, attitudes, and strategies in two groups of EFL learners with different first language (L1) backgrounds. Thirty-five Chinese EFL undergraduates and thirty-seven Spanish EFL undergraduates participated in this study via a questionnaire. Quantitative analyses indicated different types of relationships between EFL reading anxiety and the abovementioned factors between these two groups of learners. While learning attitudes had a predictive effect on EFL reading anxiety for both Chinese and Spanish EFL undergraduates, the predictive effect of learning motivation and strategies were significant only among Spanish undergraduates. In addition, with learning attitudes as a mediator, learning motivation had an indirect effect on Chinese undergraduates’ reading anxiety. These findings expand previous studies by exploring the relationships between EFL reading anxiety and these correlates among EFL learners with different L1 backgrounds and provide reference and basis for the intervention of FLRA throughout the language learning process.

A Comparative Analysis of Errors in the Written Productions of Spanish Undergraduate Engineering Students

Writing is a language skill that for most FL students is quite difficult to master. Especially for undergraduate technical students, who have just finished their compulsory secondary education, this seems to be a challenging task since the presence of difficulties in any FL writing forces them to commit various errors in their written productions. Therefore, what this research paper tries to identify is those errors made by engineering students in a public Spanish Polytechnic University over the last two academic years. We shall attempt to categorise errors based on their source following the comparative taxonomy proposed by Dulay, Burt and Krashen. So, in order to conduct this research, a total of 60 essays undertaken by a number of engineering students were selected taking into account their written productions about alternative fuels in the task assigned during the semester. The main objective of this study is to prove that the results obtained from this analysis have undoubtedly demonstrated that, and here is where it lays the significance of this paper, the majority of errors committed by these engineering students can be classified as belonging to the interlingual category, being the category with the highest number of occurrences, unlike previous researches carried out beforehand. Keywords: analysis of errors, comparative taxonomy, engineering students, types of errors DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-11-08 Publication date: April 30 th 2022

Blood donation attitudes and knowledge in Spanish undergraduates with roles in health-education

BackgroundRecent investigations highlight how important it is to identify the key factors involved in the design of strategies to promote blood donation among undergraduates as a public health concern. The study aims to investigate attitudes and knowledge towards blood donation in university students with health education roles and examine the way sociodemographic and educational characteristics play a part in it. Materials and methodsA cross-sectional and multi-center design was used. A structured questionnaire was answered by 1128 Spanish university students (Schools of Health Sciences and Education Sciences). ResultsThe knowledge test indicated a low score (M = 4.2 out of 10), being Me = 3.00 in the case of Education Sciences and Me = 5.00 in Health Sciences students. The greatest degree of importance is found in the “external incentives” dimension (M = 3.7 out of 5). Health science students and participants with relatives who needed a donation showed fewer “fears” (p ≤ 0.001) and “pretexts” (p ≤ 0.01). ConclusionsThe low knowledge score stresses the need to develop valuable health education-related strategies in the curriculum of studies related with health education; showing room for improvement particularly in Education Science students. Health education interventions aimed at increasing donors in the university environment should be designed while considering differences among undergraduates. Based on their better attitudes, health science students might play a relevant role in promoting blood donation.

Taking a closer look at the speaking of ideal self of Spanish undergraduates

Over the past fifteen years, research on second language (or L2) motivation has been dominated by Dörnyei’s influential paradigm, the L2 Motivational Self System. Students’ imagined visualisations are key components in this theory, as those students who have a clear ideal self-image with an L2 component will probably be more motivated to learn a language than others that have not established a desired future state goal for themselves. This article reports the qualitative findings of a mixed-method study that explored the effects of a multimodal intervention with influential speakers on changing the students’ attitudes in public speaking. Semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires were conducted with 11 engineering undergraduates, who volunteered to take part in the present study. Qualitative data showed that the multimodal intervention accompanied by goal setting (i.e., students’ classroom oral presentations) triggered an increase in some students’ future speaking selves. Six of the eleven students demonstrated a slight development in their levels of linguistic self-confidence, which made their vision of their ideal L2 speaking selves more realistic and clearer. The article discusses the implications of these findings and calls for a pedagogical shift that embraces more opportunities to assess the multimodal skills and strategies students need to become fluent L2 speakers.

Family Climate and Intention to Use Cannabis as Predictors of Cannabis Use and Cannabis-Related Problems among Young University Students.

Determining the predictive variables associated with cannabis use and cannabis-related problems can ease the identification of young cannabis consumers who can benefit from prevention interventions. This study aimed: (1) to describe, among university students, the cannabis use and cannabis-use problems, intention to use cannabis and family climate based on the gender and the people the student lives with; (2) to explore whether the family climate and intention to use cannabis are predictors of cannabis use and cannabis-related problems. The sample was composed of 339 Spanish undergraduates (51.9% females) in a 17-to-25 age range (19.67 ± 1.53). The variables were assessed through a battery based on the ESPAD survey, cannabis abuse screening test, cannabis use intention questionnaire and family climate scale. More men than women had used cannabis in the precedent year and showed greater intention to use cannabis, whereas more women than men showed greater self-efficacy in not using cannabis. The family climate did not predict cannabis use and cannabis-related problems. However, subjective norms and self-efficacy were key predictors of cannabis use and cannabis-use problems, respectively. Different factors seemed to predict the use cannabis in the past year versus cannabis-related problems, and these differences may help inform the development and delivery of preventative efforts.