Perfiles de estrategias de afrontamiento en estudiantes universitarios en relación con variables personales y académicas

David González Casas; Ana Isabel Dorado Barbe; José Luis Gálvez Nieto

doi:10.5944/educxx1.39618

Authors

David González Casas Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9352-4254
Ana Isabel Dorado Barbe Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0934-2205
José Luis Gálvez Nieto Universidad de la Frontera, Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7642-8204

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.39618

Keywords:

university students, multilevel latent class analysis, coping strategies, stress, gender, academic satisfaction

Abstract

University spaces are characterized by high levels of academic stress derived from various personal and academic variables. Coping, therefore, emerges as a central issue in the university experiences of students due to its consequences both on academic satisfaction and psychosocial well-being. Thus, the aim of the study was to identify profiles of coping strategies among Complutense University students in relation to personal and academic variables. The sample consisted of 2835 students (71.1% women, 28.9% men), with an average age of 21.8 years (SD = 2.97), belonging to the three cycles of different degrees offered at UCM. Results obtained from a multilevel latent class modeling show that the three-cluster model of students is the most parsimonious and best-fitting. Coping profiles are constructed based on four indicators corresponding to standardized scores of coping strategies: adequate problem-focused coping (Wald = 27.083, p < .001), adequate emotion-focused coping (Wald = 25.823, p < .001), inadequate emotion-focused coping (Wald = 133.691, p < .001), and inadequate problem-focused coping (Wald = 134.628, p < .001). Covariates significantly associated with the identified profiles include, at a personal level, gender, sex, and conflicts that generate greater distress in the university environment, and at an academic level, course, area of knowledge, and academic satisfaction. The results reveal high percentages of students using inadequate strategies to cope with stressful situations and how covariates are associated with these strategies. This underscores, due to its consequences on psychosocial well-being, the need for university policies to focus on actions aimed at both learning and experiences of appropriate coping strategies in stressful situations, as well as the identification of variables that could intersectionally promote their development.

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