The effect of academic stress and self-efficacy on college adjustment

Objective: The study aims to investigate how academic stress, self-efficacy, and college adjustment are interrelated among university students. Methods: This study conducted a self-reported survey of 218 university students enrolled in a four-year university. The analysis was conducted using SPSS 25.0 and PROCESS Macro v4.2 to examine correlations and mediation effects. Results: The results of the study are as follows: First, academic stress was found to have a negative effect on college adjustment. Second, in the effect of academic stress on college adjustment among university students, self-efficacy played a mediating role. Conclusions: These results confirmed the importance of self-efficacy in the influence of academic stress on some aspects of college adjustment among university students, and accordingly, universities need to systematically support students’ self-efficacy through various programs.