Self-Esteem at University: Proposal of an Artificial Neural Network Based on Resilience, Stress, and Sociodemographic Variables

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a useful predictive tool for a wide variety of fields of knowledge. Despite this, the educational field is still an environment that lacks a variety of studies that use this type of predictive tools. In parallel, it is postulated that the levels of self-esteem in the university environment may be related to the strategies implemented to solve problems. For these reasons, the aim of this study was to analyze the levels of self-esteem presented by teaching staff and students at university (N = 290, 73.1% female) and to design an algorithm capable of predicting these levels on the basis of their coping strategies, resilience, and sociodemographic variables. For this purpose, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Brief Resilience Scale were administered. The results showed a relevant role of resilience and stress perceived in predicting participants’ self-esteem levels. The findings highlight the usefulness of artificial neural networks for predicting psychological variables in education.

Understanding School Anxiety in Italian Adolescence through an Artificial Neural Network: Influence of Social Skills and Coping Strategies

“…Another future line of research that is in line with the limitations of the present study is to increase the number of participants to improve the generalizability of the results to other contexts. Finally, given the impact that climate change is having on the psychological conditions of the population, it would be interesting to include the analysis of eco-anxiety in the educational community [75]. While this study primarily focuses on school anxiety among adolescents, the mention of eco-anxiety is justified as it acknowledges the broader sociocultural context in which adolescents navigate their anxieties.…”

Emotional Intelligence and Coping with Daily Stress in the Academic/Work Environment

“…The university environment is one of the areas that can generate more stress among young people [8][9][10], especially during the pandemic [6]. Hernández de la Hera et al [8], in the research led by Dr. Morales, evaluated a sample of a total of 276 university students averaging 19.92 years old, most of them female, that were given tools to evaluate mathematic anxiety, attitude toward mathematics, general self-efficacy and attitudes toward statistics: (1) scale of attitude toward mathematics [11]; (2) scale of attitude toward statistics [11]; (3) scale for assessing math anxiety in secondary education (SAMAS) [12]; (4) general self-efficacy scale (EAG) [13,14].…”

“…Another study was carried out in the same year by Martínez et al [9], where a sample composed of 290 participants took part. This study had the aim of examining the possible relations that existed between the variables self-esteem, stress levels, resilience, and coping skills by using an artificial intelligence-based model with instruments such as (1) ad hoc sociodemographic questionnaire; (2) Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale designed by Rosenberg [15], (3) Spanish version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) [16,17]; and (4) Brief Resilient Coping Scale [18].…”