ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study is to analyze individual differences in academic self-efficacy within a population of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors (UFM) from the European cities of Ceuta and Melilla (Spain). Variables describing educational level and length of stay were considered in a sample of 377 individuals being cared for in different youth centers. Of these, 63.4% belonged to the group who had stayed at the center for less than 9 months and 36.6% reported a length of stay of more than 9 months. The age of participants ranged between 8 and 17 years old (M = 14.87 years). Once the quality parameters of the instrument (academic self-efficacy) were elaborated, reliability and validity was confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methodology. Data collection was then initiated. The results overall indicate that 87.6% of those who completed the questionnaire reported a higher level of self-efficacy with regards to working with any classmate, whilst at the same time seeing themselves as capable of achieving good marks. ANOVA results indicated significant differences with respect to educational level and length of stay. In this regard, students who had received professional training and had been at the Center for more than 9 months, were the ones who developed greater academic self-efficacy for spending more time working when tasks were judged to be difficult. The results obtained demonstrate that any intervention will be positive as long as it promotes different institutions to develop strategies that cater to a length of stay of more than 9 months and target education, academic self-efficacy, socialization and strengthening the future workforce. Such interventions can be directed through new European, Spanish or local level policies. It is clear that institutions still have a lot of work left to do.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to adapt the educational motivation scale into an abbreviated version (EMS-SF), in addition to analyzing its psychometric properties for use with vocational training (VT) and baccalaureate students using structural equations. A cross-sectional and ex post facto study was conducted with a sample of 1,159 students from the autonomous community of Andalusia (Spain). IBM SPSS® and IBM AMOS® software programs were used for data analysis. With regard to the main outcomes, the scale reflected good fit indices in its short form, presenting a more parsimonious and easily understood questionnaire. The questionnaire was reduced from a total of 28-19 items. In the same way, the number of dimensions was reduced from seven to four, facilitating scale understanding and interpretation according to self-determination theory. As a main finding, it was observed that the most relevant items for baccalaureate students pertained to the pleasure derived from discovering things and to overcoming challenges, whereas in VT students, items pertaining to the satisfaction generated from exerting effort, achieving one's best and being well paid were more relevant. In conclusion, findings urge the need to strengthen intrinsic motivation in VT students with the aim of avoiding demotivation and poor academic performance.
ABSTRACT
School burnout constitutes a current phenomenon which generates diverse negative consequences in the personal and academic lives of students. Given this situation, it is necessary to develop actions that permit us to regulate this harmful mental state and that are administered from within the school context. A descriptive and cross-sectional study is presented that pursues the objective of examining a structural equation model which brings together burnout and emotional regulation. The model assumes that students receive tutoring at school in order to tackle these types of problems. For this, the sample constituted a total of 569 students from the province of Granada (men = 52.3% (n = 298); women = 47.7% (n = 271)). Mean age was reported as 10.39 ± 0.95 years and the School Burnout Inventory (BMI) and the Emotional Regulation Scale were utilized as the principal instruments. As main findings it was observed that students who received one hour of weekly tutoring showed a positive relationship between expressive suppression as a strategy of emotional regulation, cynicism, and exhaustion as consequences of school burnout. In the same way, a direct association existed between burnout-related exhaustion and cognitive repair. Given that significant relationships could not be observed between these variables in students who do not receive tutoring, higher use of emotional regulation was confirmed amongst tutored students when faced with this negative mental state.
