The Role of General and Study-Related Intraindividual Factors on Academic Learning Outcomes under COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

Little is known about the intraindividual dispositional factors related to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional academic learning outcomes under COVID-19. This study investigated (i) the associations of intraindividual factors, some related to studying (motivation to learn, self-regulated learning, and study resilience), others more general (soft skills, intolerance of uncertainty) with three situational academic learning outcomes (general distress, online self-regulated learning, study-related emotions), and (ii) the effect of time, intraindividual factors, online self-regulated learning, and study-related emotions on distress and achievement over the following three exam sessions. A total of 331 university students took part in the study during the first Italian nationwide lockdown (T1; March–May 2020). Of those, 121 also completed at least one follow-up (T2: August 2020; T3: September 2020; T4: February 2021). At T1, study-related dispositions and soft skills were positively associated with online self-regulated learning and study-related emotions, while study-related dispositions were also negatively associated with general distress. Intolerance of uncertainty was associated positively with general distress and negatively with study-related emotions. Longitudinal effects of T2 and T3 for intolerance of uncertainty and study-related emotions were observed for distress, while those for T4 were study-related dispositions for achievement. Nurturing intraindividual factors can help students cope with a prolonged stressful situation such as a pandemic.

Academic Achievement and Satisfaction Among University Students With Specific Learning Disabilities: The Roles of Soft Skills and Study-Related Factors

“…Academic self-efficacy emerged as the most relevant intraindividual factor, as it was significantly positively related to both academic achievement and academic satisfaction. This result was in line with our expectations and with several previous studies (Casali et al, 2022; Mega et al, 2014; Richardson et al, 2012), suggesting the importance of this variable for students’ performance and extending its relevance to academic well-being. On the contrary, and quite unexpectedly considering previous literature (e.g., Gajda et al, 2017), creativity was negatively, although weakly, associated with achievement.…”

“…Even so, we also checked for model invariance to make sure the pattern of relationships was similar between the two groups. For academic achievement, we expected small-to-medium positive effects for all soft skills (Credé et al, 2017;Fong et al, 2017;Gajda et al, 2017;Lam & Zhou, 2019;MacCann et al, 2020;von Stumm & Ackerman, 2013), and study-related factors (Casali et al, 2022;Mega et al, 2014;Richardson et al, 2012;Sisk et al, 2018). For life satisfaction, we hypothesized that all soft skills (Lounsbury et al, 2009) and studyingrelated factors (Capone et al, 2020;Diseth et al, 2012;Hofer et al, 2011;Hu et al, 2015;Kandemir, 2014;Lam & Zhou, 2020;O'Sullivan, 2011;Vecchio et al, 2007;Yap & Baharudin, 2016) should also exert small-to-medium positive effects.…”

“…Finally, study resilience can be defined as one’s tendency to stay motivated and willing to succeed despite experiencing repeated difficulties or failures while studying (De Beni et al, 2014). Study resilience has recently been positively associated with achievement (Casali et al, 2022), and general resilience is positively related to life satisfaction (Hu et al, 2015).…”

Universal and Specific Services for University Students with Specific Learning Disabilities: The Relation to Study Approach, Academic Achievement, and Satisfaction

“…The scale proved reliable (α = .80, normative sample, De Beni et al., 2014; α = .76, present sample). Regarding the convergent validity, the questionnaire has shown small to moderate correlations with other study‐related factors, such as learning goals, self‐regulated learning, and study resilience (Casali et al., 2022).…”

The relationship between self-regulated learning, mindful agency, and psychological resilience in Chinese master of nursing specialists: A cross-sectional study

“…Lifelong learning is a pillar of nursing practice and a conscious pursuit of caregivers throughout their careers, helping caregivers prepare for new or different roles and respond positively to the inevitable changes in clinical practice ( Bindon, 2017 ), such as the continuous rapid development of medical technology, the increasing demand for services related to the aging population ( Ge et al, 2020 ) and the spread of infectious and chronic diseases ( Baker et al, 2021 ). Self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to regulating emotion, cognition, and behavior throughout the learning process to achieve at the expected level and is the main feature of lifelong learning ( Casali et al, 2022 ; Albani et al, 2023 ). Self-regulating learning skills are particularly important in complex clinical learning environments.…”