Desarrollo del proceso de capacitación

Social support is commonly defined as “information from other people that one is loved or cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual

80 obligation” (Taylor, 1999, p. 222). Perceived social support refers to the belief that

assistance, help and support is available from parents, family members, friends and significant others when required. Adequate social support for students is instrumental in helping and supporting them in their transition from high school to university, as well as adjusting to the new demands, tasks, responsibilities and requirements of university life. Students entering the university for the first time are also likely to redefine or establish new social support networks. While many students form new supportive networks, students with difficulties in establishing new ties and friendships may lack the support from friends and significant others they need. This may initiate feelings of isolation and alienation at university, which in turn can lead to poor adjustment and academic performance at university. Previous research indicates for example, that students with higher levels of perceived social support are less lonely (e.g., Halamandaris & Power, 1999; Jackson, Fritch, Nagasaka, & Gunderson, 2002; Nicpon, Huser, Blanks, Sollenberger, Befort, & Robinson Kurpius, 2006-2007).

Many students may also experience threats to their self-esteem or their beliefs about their own academic abilities during their first year at university. A supportive social network of family and friends where experiences are shared or discussed may protect or buffer students against negative effects or psychological distress (e.g., Constantine, Wilton, & Caldwell, 2003; Dean & Lin, 1977; Tao, Dong, Pratt, Hunsberger, & Pancer, 2000). Research has shown that students are unlikely to experience or suffer from depression or anxiety if they receive sufficient social support from their families and friends (e.g., Compas, Wagner, Slavin, & Vannatta, 1986; Eldeleklioglu, 2006). Lidy and Kahn (2006) in their research on students‟ adjustment to university stated that social support “facilitates the mobilization of interpersonal resources to help students cope with the stress of adjusting to college” (p. 124).

81 Previous research with undergraduate students has also shown that social support is related to and predictive of academic performance (Barnes, Potter, & Fielder, 1983; Bordes, Sand, Arredondo, Kurpius, & Rayle, 2006; Cutrona, Cole, Colangelo, Assouline, & Russell, 1994; DeBerard, Spielmans, & Julka, 2004) and adjustment (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Friedlander, Reid, Shupak, & Cribbie, 2007; Halamandaris & Power, 1997, 1999; Hertel, 2002; Hinderlie & Kenny, 2002; Holahan, Valentiner, & Moos, 1995; Lidy & Kahn, 2006; Pratt, Hunsberger, Pancer, Alisat, Bowers, Mackey, Ostaniewicz, Rog, Terzian, & Thomas, 2000; Schwitzer, Robbins, & McGovern, 1993; Solberg & Villareal, 1997; Tao et al., 2000).

For example, based on a sample of 418 undergraduate students Cutrona et al. (1994) reported that social support from parents was predictive of students‟ academic performance; but not social support from friends or romantic partners. Similarly, Bordes et al. (2006) assessed the validity of four different social support measures by studying 112 Hispanic and 597 white first year students. In their analysis, perceived social support from family

members was predictive only for the white students‟ academic performance (β = .148, p < .01), explaining 2.7% of the variance in performance (Bordes et al., 2006, p. 77). Perceived social support from friends was not predictive of academic performance for either group. Further evidence for a small positive association between perceived social support and academic performance ( = .08, n = 5.840, k = 14) was provided by Richardson et al.‟s (2012, p. 366) meta-analysis.

Empirical evidence is also available on perceived social support and student adjustment to university. Higher levels of social support have been found to lead to higher levels of adjustment to university (e.g., Okun, Sandler, & Baumann, 1988; Wintre & Yaffe, 2000). Results actually suggest that perceived social support may be a better predictor for students‟ adjustment than their academic performance. For example, Halamandaris and Power (1999, p. 675) found that perceived social support was not related to academic

82 performance, but predictive of students‟ psychosocial adjustment to university (β = .35, p < .001). The more social support students received, the better adjusted they were to university. Similarly, in an earlier investigation by Halamandaris and Power (1997, p. 99), a significant relationship between social support and adjustment (r = .47, p < .001) was found with 123 first year students. Students who were well adjusted to university reported to receive more social support than moderately or poorly adjusted students. Furthermore, Tao et al. (2000) indicated that perceived social support is associated with academic, social, and

personal/emotional dimensions of adjustment – with the strongest relationship between perceived social support and social adjustment. Similarly, Lafreniere, Ledgerwood and Doherty (1997) demonstrated a significant relationship between social support from family members and social adjustment to university. The higher the level of social support was from family members, the higher was the adjustment of first year students to university. Holahan et al. (1995) found that first year students with higher levels of perceived social support from family members were better adjusted to university than students with lower levels of perceived social support from family members. Additionally, Hertel (2002) reported

perceived social support from university friends (but not from friends outside the university) to be predictive of students‟ academic adjustment, social adjustment and institutional

commitment towards university. The study by Friedlander et al. (2007) investigated the relationship of perceived social support, stress and self-esteem on student‟s adjustment to university with a sample of 115 first year students. Perceived social support from friends was predictive of adjustment but not perceived social support from family members; with higher perceived social support from friends being indicative of better adjustment to university. The latter suggests that perceived social support from friends may be a better predictor variable than perceived social support from family members. However, perceived social support from friends was predictive of overall students adjustment (β = .19, p < .05), social adjustment (β =

83 .20, p < .05) and personal/emotional adjustment (β = .19, p < .05) to university; but not towards their academic adjustment (Friedlander et al., 2007, p. 267). Lastly, the meta-analysis by Crede and Niehorster (2012) further established the positive influence social support has on adjustment. Findings from their review revealed that social support from family members ( = .26, n = 1 964, k = 13), social support from parents ( = .21, n = 3 921, k = 18) as well as social support from peers ( = .31, n = 2 850, k = 16) had positive mean effect sizes with all four adjustment variables to university, with social adjustment having the strongest

relationship with all social support variables (Crede & Niehorster, 2012, p. 151). Based on the outlined research it is hypothesized for the present study that perceived social support is positively related to adjustment and academic performance.

The present study thus tested the assumption that the inclusion of the additional factors of test-anxiety, self-efficacy and perceived social support will improve the proposed model of Petersen et al. (2009), especially in explaining students‟ academic performance at university. It is also proposed that an extended model, with additional variables, will further improve on the overall explanation of students‟ adjustment and academic performance at university. The additional variables included in the extended model were also identified by Robbins et al. (2004) and Le et al. (2005), as well as reviewed in Richardson et al.‟s (2012) recent meta-analysis; but not used in the Petersen et al. (2009, 2010) study. The inclusion of these three factors was furthermore informed by two aspects. Firstly, research has indicated that these three factors are important in predicting adjustment to the university and academic performance (e.g., Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Barnes et al., 1983; Brown et al., 1989; Crede & Niehorster, 2012; Hancock, 2001; Hembree, 1988; Richardson et al., 2012; Siegel, Galassi, & Ware, 1985). In particular, the analysis by Richardson et al. (2012) showed that test-

anxiety and self-efficacy were among the highest correlates of academic performance (on average), out of 50 measures. Secondly, the constructs of test-anxiety, self-efficacy and

84 perceived social support and their impact on academic success have not been tested

previously within the South African context.