Abstract
This paper investigates the joint effects of academic self-efficacy and stress on the academic performance of 107 nontraditional, largely immigrant and minority, college freshmen at a large urban commuter institution. We developed a survey instrument to measure the level of academic self-efficacy and perceived stress associated with 27 college-related tasks. Both scales have high reliability, and they are moderately negatively correlated. We estimated structural equation models to assess the relative importance of stress and self-efficacy in predicting three academic performance outcomes: first-year college GPA, the number of accumulated credits, and college retention after the first year. The results suggest that academic self-efficacy is a more robust and consistent predictor than stress of academic success.
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Zajacova, A., Lynch, S.M. & Espenshade, T.J. Self-Efficacy, Stress, and Academic Success in College. Res High Educ 46, 677–706 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-4139-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-4139-z