Mental health and university dropout intention: the moderating role of adjustment

There is a paucity of research on university dropout that examines mental health and university adjustment together. While university adjustment is identified as a key variable in both classic and contemporary models of dropout, mental health has received less attention in the scientific literature. However, high levels of stress, anxiety and depression have been reported among university students, which may have an impact on academic success. The present research aims to investigate the relationship between the intention to drop out of university and mental health, as measured by stress, anxiety and depression, as well as to examine the moderating effect of adjustment. A sample of 581 Spanish university students (female and male) was selected, and contingency tables and simple slope analyses were conducted with the SPSS and Jamovi statistical packages. The results indicate elevated that over 20 % of the student sample reported severe symptoms of stress, anxiety, and/or depression, with students intending to drop out exhibiting elevated levels of these symptoms. Furthermore, the results indicate that a positive moderating effect of adjustment is present, whereby lower levels of adjustment are associated with a greater influence of stress, anxiety and depression on the intention to drop out. These findings underscore the considerable distress experienced by students and the protective role of university adjustment. Therefore, it is recommended that programmes be developed to facilitate university adjustment, enhance academic success and reduce the number of students who leave university early.