Unpleasant past experience as a determinant of cognitive, behavioral and physiological responses to academic stress in professional examination candidates

Abstract

Título: La experiencia desagradable como determinante de las respuestas cognitivas, conductuales y fisiológicas de estrés académico en universitarios opositores. Resumen: Esta investigación estableció las relaciones de interdependencia y predicción entre experiencia desagradable previa y creencias irracionales, ansiedad evaluativa, autorregulación en el estudio y estrés académico, variables de la competencia para rendir en contextos de alta exigencia. Participaron 221 aspirantes de academias preparatorias a la función pública del cuerpo de Maestros. Las variables fueron medidas mediante autoinformes validados. El diseño fue ex post-facto lineal, con análisis inferenciales y estructurales. Los resultados mostraron relaciones significativas positivas de interdependencia de la experiencia desagradable con las creencias irracionales y respuestas fisiológicas de estrés, así como negativas con la autorregulación en el estudio. Además, apareció una relación estructural predictiva significativa entre experiencia desagradable y respuestas cognitivas, conductuales y fisiológicas de estrés. Estos resultados validan parcialmente las relaciones del modelo CAERE, explicando el aprendizaje en contextos estresantes, y evidencian la necesidad de entrenar a los estudiantes ante estas situaciones. Palabras clave: modelo CAERE; creencias irracionales; ansiedad evaluativa; autorregulación en el estudio; estrés académico.Abstract: This investigation established unpleasant past experience in interdependent and predictive relations with irrational beliefs, test anxiety, selfregulated study and academic stress, variables belonging to the competency for performing in highly demanding contexts. Participants were 221 candidates enrolled in preparatory academies, where they were preparing for competitive exams for posts as public elementary school teachers. The variables were measured using validated self-reports. A linear, ex postfacto design was used, with inferential and structural analyses. Unpleasant experience was shown to have significant, positive, interdependent relations with irrational beliefs and physiological stress responses, as well as negative relations with self-regulated study. Significant, predictive, structural relations were found between unpleasant experience and cognitive, behavioral, and physiological stress responses. These results partially validate the relationships shown in the SLPS Competency model, which explains learning in stressful contexts; and offer evidence of the need to train students for these situations.

Combined Effect of Levels in Personal Self-Regulation and Regulatory Teaching on Meta-Cognitive, on Meta-Motivational, and on Academic Achievement Variables in Undergraduate Students

“…For this reason, partial models, which only focus on the student or on the teacher in an attempt to predict learning, to attribute responsiblities or to determine performance, should give way to conceptual and interactive models , like the one proposed here. In the light of this empirical evidence and of the Theory of Self vs. Externally-Regulation Learning (de la Fuente, 2015b ), it is just as essential to train university students to achieve high levels of self-regulation and self-control (Ramdass and Zimmerman, 2011 ; Bowlin and Baer, 2012 ; Hofmann et al, 2012 ; Vohs et al, 2012 ; Inzlicht et al, 2014 ; Koval et al, 2015 ; Clark and Dumas, 2016 ), as it is to train teachers to develop effective teaching strategies with a high level of regulatory teaching or contexts (Stehle et al, 2012 ) in order to enhance high performance level, especially in the procedural and attitudinal sense. Moreover, this model and its results may be extrapolated to some outcomes found in informal educational contexts (Weis et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Thus, behavior regulation is essential for success at school. Recently it has been conceptualized as a meta-ability variable which enables people to manage their own behaviors, especially in uncertain situations, when the context does not promote behavioral self-regulation (de la Fuente, 2015b ).…”

Satisfaction With the Self-Assessment of University Students Through e-Coping With Academic Stress UtilityTM

“…In such cases, not only cognitive behaviors must be examined, but also emotional behaviors. In the case of professional examination candidates, work must be approached from a competency model for competing in professional examinations ( de la Fuente, 2015a ), integrating the conceptual, procedural and attitudinal levels of the subcompetencies. The utility e-Coping with Academic Stress ( de la Fuente, 2015b ) - based on the SLPS Competency Model- offers students the opportunity to self-assess their achievement emotions, and subsequently work toward self-improvement, at different points of the teaching-learning process.…”

“…The Competence for Study, Learning and Performance with Stress model (SLPS Competency) is a multi-dimensional construct ( de la Fuente, 2015a ) inasmuch as it refers to stress factors for university students and exam candidates, and to stress management. This model is based on the 3P model (presage-process-product) of Biggs ( Biggs, 2001 ) and orders the variables to be analyzed within it.…”

“…The individual constructs a set of skills, knowledge, attitudes and habits that enable him or her to confront a certain assessment situation and succeed. The Multidimensional nature of the Competency for Studying, Llearning and Performing under Sstress, CSLUS ( de la Fuente et al, 2013b ; de la Fuente, 2015a ) is characterized by assuming three levels of learning:…”