Abstract

Admission to the university is marked by demands for academic, personal and emotional performance, leading to stressful experiences. This study aimed to compare the variables stress, self-efficacy, social skills and academic adaptation among first-year and third-year students and to determine whether self-efficacy and social skills can mediate the relationship between stress and academic adaptation. The following instruments were used: Higher Education Adaptation Questionnaire, Academic Stress Scale, Higher Education Self-efficacy Scale, and Social Skills Questionnaire. A total of 606 university students participated. The t-test and mediation analyses were performed. As a result, third-year students presented statistically higher levels of stress than first-year students. Self-efficacy and social skills were able to mediate the relationship between stress and academic adaptation. The study was able to contribute to understanding how stress impacts academic adaptation.

Keywords:
higher education; stress; self-efficacy; social skills