Melchor Gutiérrez

This work aimed to analyze the relationships between the students perceived institutional support, teachers’ support, peers’ support, and their academic satisfaction, mediated by their self-efficacy in information and comunication technologies (ICT). Participants were 157 students who were studying from first to fourth year in different disciplines of the Valencia University. Structural equation models with latent factors were tested. A final model had satisfactory fit indices to the observed data. It is worth highlighting the strong direct effect of the teaching staff support on student’ academic satisfaction, with less weight, although significant, being the effect of institutional support. In conclusion, teacher’s figure is of paramount importance for student’s academic satisfaction.

Durante el periodo de marzo a mayo de 2020 tuvo lugar en España un periodo de confinamiento debido a la pandemia por COVID-19. Entre otros cambios sociales relevantes, se adoptó una docencia en línea improvisada en sustitución de la docencia presencial en todo el sistema educativo. El objetivo de esta investigación consistió en analizar el posible papel mediador del compromiso académico entre el apoyo de la institución, de los compañeros y de los profesores, y la satisfacción académica de los estudiantes universitarios con la docencia recibida durante el confinamiento por COVID-19. Los participantes fueron 157 estudiantes que cursaban diversas disciplinas de primero a cuarto curso de grado y máster en la Universidad de Valencia. Se administró un cuestionario en línea para recabar datos sobre las variables propuestas. Se aplicó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales con factores latentes, para comprobar las hipótesis planteadas. Se observó un importante efecto mediador del compromiso académico sobre la satisfacción académica de los estudiantes, y se encontró una destacada influencia directa del apoyo del profesorado sobre la satisfacción académica del estudiantado. En el presente trabajo, se aporta evidencia empírica de la relación entre el apoyo social y la satisfacción académica del alumnado universitario español mediado por el compromiso académico en los meses de confinamiento por COVID-19. Se ofrece pues información relevante para la elaboración de una metodología específica para aplicar una docencia en línea de calidad.

The most internationally studied models of successful aging defend that there are several pillars for a good aging: absence of disease, good cognitive and physical function, a high commitment and social activity, social capital, personal resources, life satisfaction, and spirituality. This study examines the relationships between personal resources, perceived social support, hope, spirituality, self-care and subjective well-being variables, as bases for a successful aging. One thousand and sixteen community-dwelling Spanish adults, aged 55–92 years, participated in the study. Information on variables assessed was collected using self-reported questionnaires. Confirmatory Factor Analyses and Structural models with latent variables relating all indicators and factors were estimated. The structural model positing background variables affecting personal resources which then affected self-care behaviors and finally affected life satisfaction was supported by the data. The model results emphasize the importance of personality, because largely affects the use of personal resources. The three selected personal resources (support, hope and spirituality) favor self-care behaviors. And finally, these behaviors improved life satisfaction in the old age. This result is of particular importance when policies for a successful and satisfactory aging of the population have to be designed.

Introduction: Positive psychology has highlighted the importance of adolescents’ subjected well-being as a precursor of the positive youth development. Research in this context highlights the importance of perceived social support and school adjustment as determinants of adolescent well-being. Therefore, the objective of this work has been to analyze the relationships of the perception of social support (from family, teachers, and friends) and the adolescents’ subjective well-being, mediated by their school adjustment. Method: Participants were 1035 Peruvian Secondary Education students, aged between 12 and 16 years old. Two theoretical models with latent variables have been estimated and tested, one with total mediation and the other with partial mediation. Results: The results of the final model, with partial mediation, have shown a high predictive capacity of social support on school adjustment and, in turn, on the adolescents’ well-being. In addition, a powerful effect of family support on subjective well-being of Peruvian adolescents has also been found. Conclusion: These results contribute to highlighting that subjective well-being is a central construct in the context of Positive Psychology and in the positive development of young people, which is why it should be cultivated more abundantly in schools.

La literatura especializada ofrece evidencias de que en todo el mundo las tasas de deserción universitaria son elevadas, generando inconvenientes para los propios estudiantes, para la institución a la que pertenecen y para la sociedad en general. Los determinantes del abandono de los estudios son diversos, considerando uno de los más importantes la satisfacción de los estudiantes con su entorno educativo. La satisfacción académica de los estudiantes depende en gran medida del clima motivacional del aula y de la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas básicas, fundamento de la teoría de la autodeterminación. En el marco teórico de la motivación autodeterminada y de la psicología positiva, el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la capacidad predictiva del apoyo a la autonomía por los profesores sobre la satisfacción académica de los alumnos, mediado por la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas básicas de los estudiantes. Los participantes son 752 estudiantes universitarios dominicanos. Instrumentos: Percepción de Apoyo a la Autonomía por los Profesores, Satisfacción Necesidades de las Psicológicas Básicas de los Estudiantes, y Conectividad Académica. Los datos se analizan a través de dos Modelos de Ecuaciones Estructurales con variables latentes, uno con mediación total y otro con mediación parcial. Los resultados muestran que el apoyo a la autonomía se relaciona positivamente con la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas básicas; las necesidades básicas se relacionan positivamente con la satisfacción académica; y también aparece un efecto positivo y directo del apoyo a la autonomía por los profesores sobre la satisfacción académica de los estudiantes universitarios. The specialized literature offers evidence that university dropout rates are high throughout the world, creating problems for the students themselves, for the institution to which they belong, and for society in general. The determining factors of dropout are diverse, considering the student satisfaction with their educational environment as one of the most important ones. There is also evidence that the students’ satisfaction with their academic environment depends to a large extent on the classroom motivational climate and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, main elements of the self-determination theory. In the theoretical framework of self-determined motivation and positive psychology, the objective of this paper is to analyze the predictive capacity of teachers’ autonomy support on students’ academic satisfaction, mediated by the satisfaction of the students’ basic psychological needs. Participants are 752 Dominican university students. Instruments: Perceived Teachers’ Autonomy Support, Students’ Basic Psychological Needs Scale, and Academic Connectedness Scale. The data has been analyzed through two Structural Equation Models with latent variables, a total mediational model and a partial mediational model. The results show that support for autonomy is positively related to the satisfaction of basic psychological needs; that basic needs are positively related to academic satisfaction; and that there is also a positive and direct effect of autonomy support by teachers on university students’ academic satisfaction.

This research analysed relationships between perceived teachers’ autonomy support and academic success, with self-efficacy and school engagement acting as mediators. This was a survey of 870 students from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), with a mean age of 26.99 years (SD = 5.09), 50.6% were men. Factor structure for measures was established. Then a structural equation model based on theoretical considerations was estimated. Final outcomes were grades and subjective well-being. Self-efficacy and school engagement were considered mediators, and the exogenous variable was perceived teacher’s autonomy support. This initial model fitted the data well, but several theoretically driven modifications were made and a final model was established. Teacher’s autonomy has important direct effects on engagement and self-efficacy, and it also was a direct predictor of subjective well-being. Self-efficacy and engagement had direct effects on subjective well-being. Grades were explained by the effects of self-efficacy, cognitive, and emotional engagement. As a conclusion, the main chain of effects hypothesised among the variables fitted the observed data well, and can, therefore, be tentatively supported: self-efficacy and engagement mediate the effects of autonomy support on academic achievement.

Resumen El objetivo fue triple: validar las versiones portuguesa y española de la Escala de Orientación y Clima Motivacional (MOC), evaluar la invarianza métrica en muestras de estudiantes dominicanos y angoleños, y estudiar las relaciones de las orientaciones y climas motivacionales con aspectos educativos relevantes. Participaron 2302 estudiantes dominicanos y 2028 angoleños de 14 a 18 años. Mediante Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio se comprobó que las cuatro dimensiones hipotetizadas del MOC se ajustaban bien a los datos de ambas muestras. Los resultados más relevantes mostraron que las percepciones de los estudiantes sobre el clima de maestría se relacionaron positivamente con el compromiso escolar y el éxito académico en ambas muestras, mientras que las percepciones del clima de ejecución se relacionaron negativamente con estas variables escolares. Los resultados se discuten en el marco de la teoría de las metas de logro (TML) y en relación con las implicaciones para la práctica educativa.

School engagement is a construct of relevance in education and educational psychology, as it has been related to multiple educational constructs and outcomes: school drop-out, satisfaction with school, disruptive behavior, motivational climate, teacher-student relationships, or academic progress and achievement. The current research surveyed 2034 Angolan students and 2302 Dominican Republic students in order to predict academic achievement. The model tested was supported by the data in both samples, and the chain of explicative effects hold again in both samples. School engagement was a powerful mediator among needs satisfaction and academic success. Results are discussed in light of existing literature, and limitations and future directions of research are also highlighted.