The purpose of this Action Research study is to explore students' perceptions of their experience in an Academic Support Program[i] (ASP) implemented in a Chilean university to align students' lack of competencies to the minimum required to be able to succeed. Focus groups were held with 21 participants who revealed that the ASP increased their self-confidence and academic achievement. However, students' level of awareness regarding the benefits of the ASP needs to be improved to promote their participation. The findings will generate an action plan to improve students' learning outcomes and well-being.   [i] Academic Support Program

University students experience academic pressure, fatigue, and changes in their everyday and social lives during their transition into college. This study explored variables that influenced first-year students’ stress, anxiety, and depression at a university in Chile. The remnant of long-term social unrest, which emerged at the end of the dictatorship in 1990, has lasted for more than three decades. It is present in the education sector and might reflect the negative emotional states that Chilean students still experience. In this way, students' capacity to distinguish and to regulate stress, anxiety, and depression is crucial, especially in contexts where intense negative emotional states occur; thus, more research is needed to achieve a richer understanding in academic settings. The study involved testing hypotheses over 6 months to undertake a regression-based path analysis using simple mediation and moderated mediation analysis. Results revealed that students’ perceptions of their academic control mediated the relationship between their factor differentiation of emotional experiences and stress, anxiety, and depression. The indirect effect was statistically significantly moderated by intrinsic motivation. Consequently, the effect of their ability to differentiate emotions on stress, anxiety, and depression through the mediator changed due to the levels of intrinsic motivation. Implications and recommendations are discussed.