Conscious self-regulation and psychological well-being in students experiencing stress: a cross-sectional study

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Stress-induced mental disorders have been increasingly reported in young people worldwide. This trend highlights the need to assess stress levels in students and to identify resources to overcome stress. The role of conscious self-regulation in this process remains insufficiently studied.

AIM: To evaluate the role of conscious self-regulation in maintaining the psychological well-being of students in relation to acute, chronic, and perceived stress.

METHODS: Students from secondary vocational and higher education institutions participated in the survey. V.I. Morosanova’s Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire, the Well-Being Manifestations Measurement Scale, the Acute and Chronic Stress questionnaire, and the Perceived Stress Scale questionnaire were used.

RESULTS: The sample comprised 2,189 students in 13 cities. The conscious self-regulation score was found to be negatively correlated with the scores for all types of stress (r ranged from −0.13 to −0.48, p≤0.001) and positively correlated with psychological well-being (r=0.55, p≤0.001). In a multivariate regression analysis, conscious self-regulation was associated with higher psychological well-being (β=0.26) after the model included indicators of acute, chronic, and perceived stress (β values ranged from −0.26 to −0.13).

CONCLUSION: Conscious self-regulation mitigates the negative impact of acute, chronic, and perceived stress on students’ psychological well-being.

About the authors

Varvara I. Morosanova

Federal Scientific Center of Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research

Email: pondi@inbox.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7694-1945
SPIN-code: 4335-5542
ResearcherId: J-5946-2016

Dr. Sci (Psychology), Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Education, Head of the Laboratory of Self-Regulation Psychology

Russian Federation, Moscow

Irina N. Bondarenko

Federal Scientific Center of Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research

Author for correspondence.
Email: pondi@inbox.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5539-1027
SPIN-code: 7862-3863
ResearcherId: P-6901-2016

Сand. Sci (Psychology), Leading Researcher, Laboratory of Self-Regulation Psychology

Russian Federation, Moscow

Tatiana G. Fomina

Federal Scientific Center of Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research

Email: pondi@inbox.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5097-4733
SPIN-code: 7480-4880
ResearcherId: P-2785-2016

Cand. Sci (Psychology), Leading Researcher, Laboratory of Self-Regulation Psychology

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

  1. Fomina TG, Filippova EV, Burmistrova-Savenkova AV, Morosanova VI. [Stress in the educational environment and its impact on academic success and psychological wellbeing of students]. Nacional’nyj psihologicheskij zhurnal. 2024;19(4):148–160. Russian. doi: 10.11621/npj.2024.0410
  2. Ibda H, Wulandari TS, Abdillah A, et al. Student academic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review. Int J Publ Health Sci. 2023;12(1):286–295. doi: 10.11591/ijphs.v12i1.21983
  3. Cobo-Rendón R, Pérez-Villalobos MV, Páez-Rovira D, Gracia-Leiva M. A longitudinal study: Affective wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, self-efficacy and academic performance among first-year undergraduate students. Scand J Psychol. 2020;61(4):518–526. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12618
  4. Dela Cruz PJ, Aquino AM, Curioso M, et al. The impact of stress to the quality of life of the college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychol Educ Multidisc J. 2022;2(3):196–211. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.662615
  5. Ruthig JC, Hanson BL, Pedersen H, et al. Later life health optimism, pessimism and realism: psychosocial contributors and health correlates. Psychol Health. 2011;26(7):835–853. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2010.506574
  6. Konrad T, Lisnyj KT, Gillani N, et al. Factors associated with stress impacting academic success among post-secondary students: A systematic review. J Am Coll Health. 2023;71(3):851–861. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2021.1909037
  7. Alsalhi AH, Almigbal TH, Alsalhi HH, Batais MA. The relationship between stress and academic achievement of medical students in King Saud University: A cross-sectional study. Kuwait Med J. 2018;50(1):60–65.
  8. Ribeiro ÍJS, Pereira R, Freire IV, et al. Stress and quality of life among university students: A systematic literature review. Health Professions Education. 2018;4(2):70–77. doi: 10.1016/j.hpe.2017.03.002
  9. Popova TA, Semerikova PA. [Subjective well-being, psychological safety and strategies for overcoming students’ stress]. Vestnik Permskogo gosudarstvennogo gumanitarno-pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Serija No. 1, Psihologicheskie i pedagogicheskie nauki. 2023;(1):51–57. Russian. doi: 10.24412/2308-717Х-2023-1-51-57
  10. Morosanova VI, Bondarenko IN, Dolivec SS. [Academic stress and psychological resources for achieving educational goal]. Obrazovanie i nauka. 2025;27(2):108–134. Russian. doi: 10.17853/1994-5639-2025-2-108-134
  11. Lew B, Huen J, Yu P, et al. Associations between depression, anxiety, stress, hopelessness, subjective well-being, coping styles and suicide in Chinese university students. PLoS One. 2019;14(7):e0217372. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217372
  12. Blinnikova IV, Matiushin VV, Gushchin MV, Lange MD. [Contribution of trait mindfulness in countering acute and chronic stress in medical professionals during COVID-19 pandemic]. Nacional’nyj psihologicheskij zhurnal. 2022;4(48):53–64. doi: 10.11621/npj.2022.0406
  13. Morosanova VI. [Conscious self-regulation as a metaresource for achieving goals and solving the problems of human activity]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Serija 14, Psihologija. 2021;(1):3–37. Russian. doi: 10.11621/vsp.2021.01.01
  14. Zinchenko YuP, Morosanova VI, Kondratyuk NG, Fomina TG. Conscious self-regulation and self-organization of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art. 2020;13(4):168–182. doi: 10.11621/pir.2020.0411
  15. Garcia D, Jimmefors A, Mousavi F, et al. Self-regulatory mode (locomotion and assessment), well-being (subjective and psychological), and exercise behavior (frequency and intensity) in relation to high school pupils’ academic achievement. PeerJ. 2015;3:e847. doi: 10.7717/peerj.847
  16. de la Fuente J, Amate J, González-Torres MC, et al. Effects of levels of self-regulation and regulatory teaching on strategies for coping with academic stress in undergraduate students. Front Psychol. 2020;11:22. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00022
  17. Hadwin AF, Sukhawathanakul P, Rostampour R, Bahena-Olivares LM. Do self-regulated learning practices and intervention mitigate the impact of academic challenges and COVID-19 distress on academic performance during online learning? Front Psychol. 2022;13:813529. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.813529
  18. Shirmohammadi Z, Eftekhar SZ, Talebzadeh SM. Mediating role of perceived academic stress in relationships of self-compassion and self-regulation with academic well-being in female students. Iran J Health Sci. 2023;11(1):29–36.
  19. Durand-Bush N, McNeill K, Harding M, Dobransky J. Investigating stress, psychological well-being, mental health functioning, and self-regulation capacity among university undergraduate students: is this population optimally functioning? Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy. 2015;49(3):253–274.
  20. Demir S, Çelikkaleli Ö. The mediation role of self-regulation in effect of perceived stress on psychological well-being in emerging adults. International Innovative Education Researcher. 2023;3(1):66–101.
  21. Ioannou M, Kassianos AP, Symeou M. Coping With Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults: Perceived Social Support Protects Against Depressive Symptoms Only Under Moderate Levels of Stress. Front Psychol. 2019;9:2780. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02780
  22. Yuhuan Z, Pengyue Z, Dong C, et al. The association between academic stress, social support, and self-regulatory fatigue among nursing students: a cross-sectional study based on a structural equation modelling approach. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):789. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03829-2
  23. Lin J, Zahry NR. Relationships among perceived stress, emotional eating, and dietary intake in college students: Eating self-regulation as a mediator. Appetite. 2021;163:105215. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105215
  24. Schulte-Frankenfeld PM, Trautwein FM. App-based mindfulness meditation reduces perceived stress and improves self-regulation in working university students: A randomised controlled trial. Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2022;14(4):1151–1171. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12328
  25. Boldyreva TA, Shcherbinina OA. [Verification of the thesis on the increase in depressive and alarming trends in the 2010–2020s (using the example of a cohort and longitudinal study)]. Jeksperimental’naja psihologija. 2025;18(1):119–137. Russian. doi: 10.17759/exppsy.2025180108
  26. Tarasova TV, Ionova MS, Ganyukhina YaG, et al. [Dynamics of psychological indicators of adaptation of students at a university]. Mir nauki. Pedagogika i psihologija [Internet]. 2021[cited 2025 Aug 15];3(9):[12 p.]. Russian. Available from: https://mir-nauki.com/PDF/13PSMN321.pdf
  27. Samokhvalova AG, Shipova NS, Tikhomirova EV, Vishnevskaya ON. [Psychological well-being of modern students: typology and targets of psychological help]. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya. 2022;30(1):29–48. Russian. doi: 10.17759/cpp.2022300103
  28. Morosanova VI, Kondratyuk NG. [V.I. Morosanova’s “Self-regulation profile questionnaire — SRPQM 2020”]. Voprosy psihologii. 2020;4:155–167. Russian.
  29. Massé R, Poulin C, Dassa C, et al. The structure of mental health: Higher-order confirmatory factor analyses of psychological distress and well-being measures. Social Indicators Research. 1998;45(1):475–504. doi: 10.1023/A:1006992032387
  30. Fomina TG, Bondarenko IN. [Validation of the well-being manifestations measurement scale (WBMMS) on a sample of Russian students]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Serija 14, Psihologija. 2024;47(2):243–264. Russian. doi: 10.11621/LPJ-24-2
  31. Morosanova VI, Zinchenko YP. [Short questionnaire of acute and chronic stress: development and validation]. Sibirskiy psikhologicheskiy zhurnal. 2024;(94):6–22. Russian. doi: 10.17223/17267080/94/1
  32. Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behavior. 1983;24(4):385–396.
  33. Zolotareva AA. [Psychometric properties of the Russian version of the perceived stress scale (PSS-4, 10, 14)]. Klinicheskaia i spetsial’naia psikhologiia. 2023;12(1):18–42. Russian. doi: 10.17759/cpse.2023120102
  34. Dancey CP, Reidy J. Statistics without maths for psychology. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson Prentice Hall; 2007.
  35. Kim JH. Multicollinearity and misleading statistical results. Korean J Anesthesiol. 2019;72(6):558–569. doi: 10.4097/kja.19087
  36. O’Brien RM. A Caution Regarding Rules of Thumb for Variance Inflation Factors. Quality & Quantity. 2007;41(5):673–690. doi: 10.1007/s11135-006-9018-6
  37. Nestik TA. [The influence of military conflicts on the psychological state of society: promising areas of research]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo. 2023;14(4):5–22. Russian. doi: 10.17759/sps.2023140401
  38. Basyuk VS, Malykh SB, Tikhomirova TN. [Federal network of psychological services of educational institutions of higher education: concept, priorities and development resources]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie. 2022;27(6):4–18. Russian. doi: 10.17759/pse.2022270601
  39. Ma H, Zou JM, Zhong Y, Li J, He JQ. Perceived stress, coping style and burnout of Chinese nursing students in late-stage clinical practice: A cross-sectional study. Nurse Educ Pract. 2022 Jul;62:103385. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103385
  40. Olson N, Oberhoffer-Fritz R, Reiner B, Schulz T. Stress, student burnout and study engagement - a cross-sectional comparison of university students of different academic subjects. BMC Psychol. 2025 Mar 24;13(1):293. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-02602-6
  41. Habibu ML, Lawal US, Zubairu Z, Sain ZH. Effectiveness of Self-Regulation Techniques in Reducing Stress among Nursing Students in Kaduna, Nigeria. African Journal of Humanities and Contemporary Education Research. 2024;14(1):307–320. doi: 10.62154/ts051935
  42. Hj Ramli NH, Alavi M, Mehrinezhad SA, Ahmadi A. Academic stress and self-regulation among university students in Malaysia: Mediator role of mindfulness. Behav Sci (Basel). 2018;8(1):12. doi: 10.3390/bs8010012
  43. Arabzadeh M, Nikdel F, Kadivar P, et al. The relationship of self-regulation and self-efficacy with academic stress in university students. International Journal of Education and Psychology in the Community. 2012;2(2):102–113.
  44. Sabouripour F, Roslan S, Ghiami Z, Memon MA. Mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between optimism, psychological well-being, and resilience among Iranian students. Front Psychol. 2021;12:675645. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.675645
  45. Bulut O, Cutumisu M, Aquilina AM, Singh D. Effects of digital score reporting and feedback on students’ learning in higher education. Frontiers in Education. 2019;4:65. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2019.00065
  46. Ansari S, Khan I, Iqbal N. Association of stress and emotional well-being in non-medical college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2025;368:200–223. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.029
  47. Kononov AN, Novikova AS. [Features of experiencing and coping with exam stress of students of psychological and medical fields of study]. Nauchnyj rezul’tat. Pedagogika i psihologija obrazovanija. 2023;9(2):129–145. Russian. doi: 10.18413/2313-8971-2023-9-2-0-10
  48. Tomas N, Poroto A. The interplay between self-regulation, learning flow, academic stress and learning engagement as predictors for academic performance in a blended learning environment: A cross-sectional survey, Heliyon. 2023;9(11):e21321. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21321
  49. Baumeister RF, André N, Southwick DA, Tice DM. Self-control and limited willpower: current status of ego depletion theory and research. Curr Opin Psychol. 2024:101882. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101882
  50. Freire C, Ferradás MD, Valle A, et al. Profiles of psychological well-being and coping strategies among university students. Front Psychol. 2016;7:1554. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01554

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download

Copyright (c) 2025 Morosanova V.I., Bondarenko I.N., Fomina T.G.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Согласие на обработку персональных данных

 

Используя сайт https://journals.rcsi.science, я (далее – «Пользователь» или «Субъект персональных данных») даю согласие на обработку персональных данных на этом сайте (текст Согласия) и на обработку персональных данных с помощью сервиса «Яндекс.Метрика» (текст Согласия).