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Resilience and Adjustment56reported student type (i.e,. mature entry orschool leaver). The definitions of mature entryand school leaver students were explained toparticipants to ensure they assigned themselvesto the correct group. Participants were theninstructed to record a participant number onboth the RSA and SACQ so as these could bematched in analysis.ResultsIn order to address the research questionsdata analysis proceeded in two stages.Statistics were computed to determine if therewas a difference between student types on bothadjustment and resilience scores. Thisprocedure was a multivariate analysis ofvariance (MANOVA). To determine if therewas a relationship between resilience andadjustment, irrespective of student type, thecorrelation between scores on the RSA andSACQ was computed.The first hypothesis was that there is arelationship between adjustment and resilience;this is irrespective of student type (matureentry or school leaver). This relationship wastested using Pearson’s correlation coefficientto determine if scores on the SACQ (M =463.59, SD = 58.86) and RSA (M = 183.41, SD= 26.03) were correlated, r(63) = 0.565, p
Resilience and Adjustment57An explanation of the moderatecorrelation between the SACQ and the RSAmay be explained by the findings of Compas etal. (1986), that the time of most vulnerabilitywhen transitioning to university is two weeksafter commencing study. In the present studyparticipants were drawn from a sample ofstudents at varying stages of theirundergraduate studies. It may be that resiliencehas a greater impact on adjustment touniversity throughout these initial two weeksthan the current findings suggest. However,Compas et al. (1986) also show that 64 percentof the variance in psychological problems onentry to university could be predicted threemonths prior, suggesting that adjustment,although fluid, is relatively constant. Follow upresearch may compare the correlation betweenSACQ and RSA scores from studentsthroughout this two week period with theresults from the current study. This wouldallow conclusions to be drawn about theimpact that resilience has on adjustment fornew students, and whether applications of thefindings from the current study may be appliedto the cohort of subsequent students.The second hypothesis, that there is adifference between school leaver and matureentry students adjustment to university, wasnot supported. This indicates that there maynot be as much of a difference between thesetwo student groups as research previouslysuggested (Cantwell et al., 2001; Justice &Dornan, 2001; Taniguchi & Kaufman, 2005),particularly in terms of adjusting to theuniversity environment. These findings mayalso suggest that the adversities experienced byboth groups do not affect the specific constructof adjustment, or that their varying adversitieslead to similar levels of adjustment. It is likelythat school leaver students are increasinglyfinding it necessary to find employment tosupport themselves whist studying. This cohortof students may be experiencing timeconstraints similar to those of mature entrystudents.However, some other possibleexplanations for the finding that there is nodifference between school leaver and matureentry students’ adjustments to university comefrom existing research. Urquhart and Pooley(2007) argue that there are differences betweenmature entry and school leavers experiences interms of adjustment to university, however, theyalso highlight that there are many individualdifferences. In this sample the individualdifferences outweigh the group differences.Cantwell et al. (2001) say that there is amarginal disadvantage for non-traditionalstudents (i.e., mature entry students) studying atuniversity in terms of achievement andadjustment, though there is a positive effect onadjustment for older non-traditional students,particularly females. This may help explain thecurrent findings as chronological age was notthe focus in this study. Those mature entrystudents that are chronologically older may havepositively skewed the results, and the youngeraged mature entry students may in fact be lessadjusted than the general university population.Brooks and DuBois (1995) suggest in theirresearch that in comparison to environmentalvariables, individual variables were related moststrongly to adjustment. Therefore the individualvariables may seem to explain why there is littledifference shown between school leavers andmature entry students in the current sample. Thislack of differences between groups is furthersupported by Taniguchi and Kaufman’s (2005)research, suggesting that being young facilitatesacademic adjustment and success, whichcontradicts the findings from Cantwell et al.(2001) who suggest there is a positive effect onadjustment for older non-traditional students.Taniguchi and Kaufman (2005) suggest thatmore important variables than mode of entryfacilitate adjustment, such as the number ofprior enrolments and high status vocationalbackground. It is these types of individualdifferences that seem to influence one’sadjustment to university.The non support for hypothesis three, thatmature entry students would exhibit higherlevels of resilience than school leavers, suggestsThe <strong>Australian</strong> Community Psychologist Volume 21 No 1 June 20<strong>09</strong>
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2Office Bearers of the APS College
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General Information4The Australian
Page 6 and 7: Editorial6Psychologist. With this i
Page 8 and 9: The Construction of Muslims as “O
Page 10 and 11: Muslim, Racism and Media10old fashi
Page 12 and 13: Muslim, Racism and Media12rightfull
Page 14 and 15: Muslim, Racism and Media14distance
Page 16 and 17: Muslim, Racism and Media16incompati
Page 18 and 19: Muslim, Racism and Media18This disc
Page 20 and 21: Muslim, Racism and Media20that psyc
Page 22 and 23: Muslim, Racism and Media22injustice
Page 24 and 25: 24Multiculturalism and Whiteness:Th
Page 26 and 27: Multiculturalism and Whiteness26emb
Page 28 and 29: Multiculturalism and Whiteness28spe
Page 30 and 31: Multiculturalism and Whiteness30Aus
Page 32 and 33: Multiculturalism and Whiteness32res
Page 34 and 35: Multiculturalism and Whiteness34del
Page 36 and 37: Multiculturalism and Whiteness36NSW
Page 38 and 39: Multiculturalism and Whiteness38but
Page 40 and 41: Accessing Authentic Knowledge40is a
Page 42 and 43: Accessing Authentic Knowledge42Nort
Page 44 and 45: Accessing Authentic Knowledge44pers
Page 46 and 47: Accessing Authentic Knowledge46or p
Page 48 and 49: Accessing Authentic Knowledge48The
Page 50 and 51: 50Differences in Resilience and Uni
Page 52 and 53: Resilience and Adjustment52entry st
Page 54 and 55: Resilience and Adjustment54competen
Page 58 and 59: Resilience and Adjustment58that the
Page 60 and 61: Resilience and Adjustment60change i
Page 62 and 63: 62Understanding and Assisting Exces
Page 64 and 65: Excessive Videogame Playing64Despit
Page 66 and 67: Excessive Videogame Playing66progre
Page 68 and 69: Excessive Videogame Playing68order
Page 70 and 71: Excessive Videogame Playing70belong
Page 72 and 73: Excessive Videogame Playing72for th
Page 74 and 75: Excessive Videogame Playing7412. Do
Page 76 and 77: Giving Psychology Away76alleviation
Page 78 and 79: Giving Psychology Away78coalitions
Page 80 and 81: Giving Psychology Away80own needs
Page 82 and 83: Giving Psychology Away82psychology
Page 84 and 85: Reflections on Implementing an Educ
Page 86 and 87: Education support programme86Aborig
Page 88 and 89: Education support programme88acquir
Page 90 and 91: Education support programme90active
Page 92 and 93: Education support programme92cultur
Page 94 and 95: Education support programme94overal
Page 96 and 97: Education support programme96that f
Page 98 and 99: Education support programme98A25757
Page 100 and 101: Education support programme100Assoc
Page 102 and 103: 102Using the SPECS Model to Explore
Page 104 and 105: New Paradigms in Health Psychology1
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New Paradigms in Health Psychology1
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108A Case for More Culture in Commu
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States of Micronesia110with 57.6% s
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States of Micronesia112alcohol, Mar
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States of Micronesia114activity set
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States of Micronesia116healthy comm
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States of Micronesia118succumbing t
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States of Micronesia120evaluation f
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States of Micronesia122conquest of
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Manuscript preparation124page, abst
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The Australian Community Psychologi
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