Emotional Intelligence and Academic Self-Efficacy in Relation to the Psychological Well-Being of University Students During COVID-19 in Venezuela

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, educational centers and universities in Venezuela have closed their physical plants and are migrating to emergency remote education to continue with academic programs. This empirical study aimed to analyze the predictive capacity of academic self-efficacy and emotional intelligence skills on each of the dimensions of psychological well-being. We employed a cross-sectional predictive design. The sample comprised 277 university students, of which 252 were female (91.00%). Their ages ranged from 18 to 45 years, with a mean of 20.35 (SD = 2.29). Non-probabilistic chance sampling was used. For data collection, we used an anonymous online form, contacted students by mail, and invited them to participate in the study. Questionnaires were available between 217 and 227 days of decreed quarantine in Venezuela. The results indicated average levels of academic self-efficacy (Me = 4; IQR = 2), emotional intelligence: clarity (Me = 27; IQR = 10), attention (Me = 25; IQR = 10) y repair (Me = 25; IQR = 12), and psychological well-being (Me = 35; IQR = 5). We found differences according to sex and age, specifically in emotional regulation (z = 3.73, p < 0.001, d = 0.438) and in bonds of psychological well-being (z = 2.51, p = 0.012, d = 0.276) favoring men (Me = 33, IQR = 9; Me = 8, IQR = 1), respectively. Regarding age, statistically significant differences were found in the group of students older than 21 years with higher perception of psychological well-being (z = 3.69, p < 0.001, d = 0.43) and in each of its dimensions. Emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of psychological well-being and its dimensions, specifically on control (R2-Cox = 0.25, R2-Nagelkerke = 0.34, 69.90% of total correct classification), links (R2-Cox = 0.09, R2-Nagelkerke = 0.12, 65.07% of total correct classification), projects (R2-Cox = 0.32, R2-Nagelkerke = 0.46, 78.40% of total correct classification), acceptance (R2-Cox = 0.17, R2-Nagelkerke = 0.23, 68.28% of total correct classification), and total well-being (R2-Cox = 0.52, R2-Nagelkerke = 0.71, 87.16% of total correct classification). It was concluded that emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy are protective psychological resources of psychological well-being that should be promoted at university to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the mental health of young people.

The effect of teacher support on Chinese university students’ sustainable online learning engagement and online academic persistence in the post-epidemic era

“…Meanwhile, Soncini et al (2021) argued that students’ academic self-efficacy in online learning courses can motivate them to have positive emotions such as pleasure and liking in online courses. In addition, García-Álvarez et al (2021) indicated that during the epidemic prevention and control period, students are prone to some negative emotions such as loneliness and anxiety in online courses if their academic self-efficacy is low. In summary, in the post-epidemic context, when students gain higher OAS-E, they are more likely to have positive emotions in online course learning.…”

“…In particular, positive emotions can influence learners’ learning performance through individual factors such as enhanced self-efficacy and self-regulation ( Yu et al, 2022 ). Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, some students have been prone to negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, isolation, and even the inability to consistently complete online learning tasks due to the impact of the epidemic prevention and control quarantine ( García-Álvarez et al, 2021 ). Moreover, studies have also found that pandemic-induced disruptions and uncertainty affect students’ academic self-efficacy to some extent, which may lead to negative emotions such as anxiety, worry, and fear ( Berman et al, 2022 ).…”

Academic self-efficacy as a protective factor for the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In addition, positive self-efficacy is a predictor of good academic performance (Yokoyama, 2019). Furthermore, self-efficacy has a strong correlation with mental health, which has been demonstrated in the results of different studies (e.g., Grøtan et al, 2019;García-Álvarez et al, 2021). For example, Tak et al (2017) shows that there is a negative relationship between academic self-efficacy and depressive symptoms in early to middle adolescence.…”

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