Psychological Development and Education ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (2): 270-278.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2024.02.14

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The Reciprocal Effects of Emotional Adjustment, Social Adjustment and Academic Adjustment among Freshmen: A Longitudinal Study

LIU Huan1, LI Yufan1,2   

  1. 1. Department of Psychology, School of Public Policy and Administration, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031;
    2. Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872
  • Published:2024-03-18

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Abstract: The transition to college is a key turning point. Freshmen need to accustom themselves to the academic environment, the new peer groups, and various subjective feelings. The trajectories of academic adjustment, social adjustment, and emotional adjustment were different, but they will be interconnected in a meaningful way according to developmental cascades theory. To examine the trajectories of the three domains of adjustment and clarify the dynamic relationship between them, 426 freshmen were recruited to attend a 19-week experience sampling study in their first semester. The results showed that: (1) Students reported a stable level of social adjustment, while the scores of academic and emotion adjustments gradually declined with time; (2) The fluctuations of academic adjustment were independent of social adjustment and emotional adjustment; (3) There were reciprocal associates between social adjustment and emotional adjustment. These findings provided important insights into the promotion of individual development of first-year students.

Key words: freshmen, school transition, adjustment, residual dynamic structural equation model

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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