issue 1 09 - APS Member Groups - Australian Psychological Society

Resilience and Adjustment54competence (NIFTeY Vision for Children inWestern Australia, 2003). In line with this isthe notion that the transition to universityrepresents a time of difficulty for individuals.The unfamiliarity in university settingsheightens the vulnerability students areexposed to as they try to regain some stabilityin the new environment by means ofnegotiation (Compas, Wagner, Slavin, &Vannatta, 1986). Longitudinal research hasshown that acute stress is particularlyprominent in this period for mature entryfemales (Gall, Evans, & Bellerose, 2000). Inaccordance with the definition of resilienceused above, to achieve some stability or toadjust to university life, an individual musthave a high level of resilience in order toovercome the obstacles present in thistransition period.In a study examining stressful life events,perceived social support and psychologicalsymptoms in a sample of seniors at high schooland then the same students during their firstyear at university, it was found that the time ofmost vulnerability was two weeks aftercommencing university study (Compas et al.,1986). It is suggested that adjustment is adynamic process (Gall et al., 2000). It is alsosuggested that the quantity and kind of lifetransformations experienced and the size andhelpfulness of student’s social support systemshave been found to have an influence on theadjustment process (Gall et al., 2000). Lifeevents and social support were predictive ofpsychological symptoms in the Compas et al.(1986) study. Compas et al. (1986) suggest thatthese findings are important because 64percent of the variance in psychologicalsymptoms at the time of entrance to universitycould be accounted for by measures takenthree months earlier during universityorientation programmes. These disturbancesinclude anxiety, depression, and somaticproblems. It is shown that social supportmediates these disturbances; however, thepresence of these symptoms may interfere withthe skills necessary to generate a newsatisfying sense of support in the universityenvironment. Differences between school leaverand mature entry students may be partiallyexplained by the quantity and kind of lifetransformations experienced and the size andhelpfulness of student’s social support systems.The factors mentioned thus far thatstrongly influence adjustment to university havebeen at the individual level. However,environmental factors may also have a role inadjustment. Brooks and DuBois (1995)conducted research into the individual andenvironmental predictors of adjustment duringthe first year of college. They found thatalthough individual variables were related moststrongly to adjustment, environmental variablesmade significant incremental contributions tothe prediction of several adjustment indices. Thesignificant individual predictors included:emotional stability, intellect, and problemsolving. The ability to engage in problemfocusedcoping, personality tendencies towardextroversion and intellect, and academic skillswere found to be influential in facilitating theadaptation to university for first year students. Itis also noted that for most adolescents thecommencement of tertiary education is their firstmajor life transition. Knowledge of the abilitiesand traits that lead to better adaptation hasimplications for counselling this group ofstudents and ensuring adequate adaptation to theuniversity setting.The purpose of the present study was toexamine the role of resilience in mature entryand school leaver students in terms of theiradjustment to university. Specifically it washypothesised that there would be a relationshipbetween resilience and university adjustment.Second, it was hypothesised that there would bea difference in university adjustment betweenschool leaver and mature entry students, andthird, that mature entry students would exhibithigher levels of resilience than school leavers.MethodParticipantsParticipants (n = 63) were sought from aWestern Australian university, and self-The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 21 No 1 June 2009