Elaboración del Programa de Auditoría

Less research has assessed and reported differences in terms of students living on or off campus with regard to the psychosocial variables of the current study (or part thereof). One exception is the study by Gloria et al. (1999) with 98 African American undergraduate students, who found no significant differences between students living on or off campus among the variables of self-esteem, self-efficacy, stress and social support.

100 Three previous studies were identified which assessed if there are differences between students living on or off campus in terms of their academic performance. An early study by Graff and Cooley (1970) with 185 students living on campus and 116 students living off campus found no difference in their academic performance. This result should, however, be interpreted with caution as it compared students‟ academic performance after only one semester and not for the whole first academic year. A later study by Blimling (1999) nonetheless supported these early findings. In a review of 21 studies Blimling (1999)

indicated that there was no significant difference in academic performance between students living on campus in university residences and students living off campus at home. In a more recent study of 401 first year college students, however, Nicpon et al. (2006-2007) reported higher academic performance for students who lived on campus than those who lived off campus.

Murtaugh, Burns and Schuster (1999) found that students who lived off campus had a higher dropout rate than students who lived in university residences. Furthermore, in a recent local research study by Jones et al. (2008), students living in university residences during the academic year were found to be better adjusted socially to university life than students who lived off campus. It is thus hypothesized that students who live in a university residence on campus during the academic year will perform better academically and be better adjusted socially than students who reside off campus or in private accommodation. No differences are expected for the variables of self-esteem, perceived stress, self-efficacy and social support for students living on or off campus during the academic year.

No research was identified which previously tested the moderator effect of students‟ residence status for the relationships between psychosocial variables (variables included in the present study) and adjustment or academic performance. These relationships are tested for possible moderation and elaborated in the present study.

101 In summary, the review of psychosocial variables showed that there is empirical support for the assumption that the factors of help-seeking, motivation, self-esteem, perceived stress, academic overload, test-anxiety, self-efficacy and perceived social support are related to and predictive of student adjustment and academic performance at university. This may lead towards one important conclusion. That is, the good predictive nature of psychosocial variables for students‟ academic performance at university, as indicated by numerous studies (e.g., Abdullah et al., 2009; Crede & Niehorster, 2012; DeBerard et al., 2004; Lane & Lane, 2001; Lane et al., 2004; Richardson et al., 2012; Robbins et al., 2004; Russell & Petrie, 1992; Solberg & Villareal, 1997; Tracey & Sedlacek, 1984, 1985; Zajacova et al., 2005). This questions the practice of traditional measures (e.g., high school grades, university aptitude scales, etc.), especially locally, to account for students‟ academic performance at university. As such, psychosocial factors might be used to determine and identify what kind of support students need to perform better academically and to be successful at university; as well as to inform universities what type of support structures are beneficial to students and where available resources could be effectively utilized or put into place.

To conclude, the literature review further indicated that studies in South Africa related to the adjustment and academic performance of university students are limited and mainly concentrated on academic factors, cognitive factors or a combination of both; with academic factors being used most frequently. Only a limited number of studies focused on additional factors, such as demographics (Beneke & Beeming, 2011), student wellness (Lingen, Douman, & Wannenburg, 2011), students or lecturers perception of what constitutes

academic success (Fraser & Killen, 2005; Ngidi, 2007), or psychosocial factors (Davidowitz & Schreiber, 2008; Malefo, 2000; Sikhwari, 2007) to explain students‟ adjustment and academic performance at university in South Africa. Also, the focus has been almost entirely on academic performance with research on students‟ adjustment to university being very

102 limited; despite the significance that has been established regarding the relationship between adjustment and academic performance and the key role adjustment plays in explaining academic performance of students at university (e.g., Crede & Niehorster, 2012; Petersen et al., 2009, 2010; Sennett et al., 2003; Sommer & Dumont, 2011; Strahan, 2003). Academic factors encompassed the constructs of lecture or class attendance (e.g., Müller, Swanepoel, & De Beer, 2010; Steenkamp, Baard, & Frick, 2009; Swanepoel, De Beer, & Müller, 2009; Thatcher, Fridjhon, & Cockcroft, 2007; Thatcher, Rosenstein, Grootenhuis, & Haiden, 2010; van Schalkwyk, Menkveld, & Ruiters, 2010), matric marks or previous academic

performance (e.g., Bothma, Botha, & LeRoux, 2004; Downs, 2009; Huysamen, 2000, 2002; Jawitz, 1995; Potter & van der Merwe, 1994), work status or experience (e.g., Welman, 2003) and English language proficiency (e.g., Naude, Jansen, Greyling, & Esterhuyse, 2011; Pretorius, 2002; Stephen, Welman, & Jordaan, 2004). Cognitive factors included the

constructs of verbal and numerical aptitude (e.g., Kotze & Griessel, 2008) and learning potential (e.g., van der Merwe & de Beer, 2006); whereas previous psychosocial factors included the variables of stress, motivation, attitude and self-esteem (e.g., Davidowitz & Schreiber, 2008; Goodman et al., 2011; Malefo, 2000; Sikhwari, 2007).

In order to advance research and to ascertain how previous knowledge applies to the South African context more research is essential. This is especially important in light of the continuing high number of student dropouts from university, low retention rates and poor graduation rates. Further research not only needs to test simple relationships previously untested among historically disadvantaged students (and university students in general), but also more complex interactions. Here the research by Petersen et al. (2009), who tested a theoretically based psychosocial model to explain and predict students‟ adjustment and academic performance at university, offers a starting point to move research forward. By including additional theoretically identified and previously untested variables; the aim of the

103 present research is not only to replicate Petersen et al.‟s (2009) model, but also to

theoretically extend it and improve on the variance it may explain for adjustment and

academic performance among historically disadvantaged students. A further aim is to test and identify possible moderator effects for the variables in the model. Identifying and testing for possible moderator effects has rarely been done in previous research concerned with

explaining or predicting student adjustment and academic performance at university. The next part of the literature review details the research model of the present study and summarizes all hypotheses based on the presented literature.