engleski

Personal and Environmental Characteristics as Determinants of Student Adjustment to College

Objectives. The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine the differences in adjustment to college between freshmen who did and those who did not leave home ; (2) to explore the relation of self-efficacy, social support, daily hassles and perceived stress with freshmen academic, emotional and social adjustment to college. Methods. 313 freshmen from the University of Rijeka (Croatia) were assessed by Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (Baker & Siryk, 1999), General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988), Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) and Hassles Assessment Scale. The assessment was conducted at the beginning of second semester of freshmen year. Results. The results of t-tests show that there are no differences in academic and social adjustment between freshmen who did and those who did not leave home, but that they differ in emotional adjustment. Students who left home have poorer emotional adjustment. The results of hierarchical regression analyses indicate that: (1) self-efficacy and perceived stress are significant predictors of academic adjustment ; (2) self-efficacy, daily hassles and perceived stress significantly predict emotional adjustment and ; (3) self-efficacy, social support and perceived stress are significant predictors of social adjustment. Conclusions. These findings suggest that different factors contribute to academic, emotional and social adjustment to college. The results could be useful for understanding why some students are better adjusted then the others. They also indicate the need for prevention and treatment programs and could be used in their development.

adjustment to college; freshmen; self-efficacy; social support; daily hassles; perceived stress; leaving home

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