Many psychological constructs as personality, perfectionism, and self-efficacy have been identified to have a strong contribution to teachers’ coping strategies, but how these variables collectively predict different types of coping has received little attention. The present study aimed to explore the personal resources (personality traits, perfectionistic strivings, and self-efficacy) which predict teachers’ proactive coping strategies. The sample study consisted of 284 pre-service teachers, with ages ranging from 18 to 34years old (M=19.9;SD=2.1). Four hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for every proactive coping strategy based on personal resources as criterion variables. Results showed that conscientiousness and openness were predictors for all four coping strategies based on personal resources (proactive, reflective, strategic planning, and preventive coping), extraversion and neuroticism predicted only proactive coping strategies, and agreeableness did not predict any kind of these coping strategies. Planfulness was a predictor for reflective, strategic planning, and preventive coping strategies; striving for excellence predicted only proactive coping, and organization was a predictor only for reflective coping strategies. Self-efficacy predicted the first three proactive coping strategies but preventive coping. Because coping strategies can be learned, knowing what personal resources may help teachers to cope with stressful situations inside and outside the school, could be organized training programs to improve activity and well-being in the teaching profession.

Purpose: Although many studies emphasize the need to design programs to help students manage post-pandemic burnout, few address personal resources' mediating role in the relationship between positive self-evaluation and experienced academic burnout. The present study aims to investigate the mediating role of two personal resources (i.e. psychological capital and proactive coping) on the relationship between core self-evaluations and academic burnout.Design/methodology/approach: The research was carried out in the first part of 2022, at the end of two years of online teaching. The sample consisted of 183 Romanian university students who voluntarily filled in four questionnaires that measured core self-evaluations, academic burnout, psychological capital and proactive coping. To verify the hypotheses, a mediation analysis using the PROCESS 4.0 macro in SPSS 23.0, Model 6 was conducted. The indirect effect was tested based on a bias-corrected bootstrapping procedure with 5,000 samples, and a bootstrap confidence interval (95% CI).Findings: Results showed that students with a high level of core self-evaluations report a low level of burnout. Also, students with positive core self-evaluations are more likely to use their psychological resources (i.e. psychological capital) and act proactively (i.e. proactive coping) in dealing with challenging situations, which can increase their burnout. However, the overall effect of the core self-evaluations on burnout was lower in the case of mediation by students' personal resources.Originality/value: These research findings highlight the role of personal resources in coping with a challenging context, being among the few studies that have focused on student burnout in the immediate post-pandemic period. Furthermore, by working with malleable personal resources that can be enhanced through instruction, this research underlines how students can be taught to assess and develop these resources to cope with a highly demanding educational context.

Three main categories of variables which impact the approach to learning were synthesised, and they are linked to the learning context, the way that students perceive this context and the students’ characteristics. Despite the research which emphasised the influence of these variables on approaches to learning in different areas, only a few studies have addressed their effect on nursing education. The purpose of the present study was to investigate if achievement goals orientation and study engagement predict nursing students’ approaches to learning. A total of 120 second-year nursing students included in a traditional educational programme for nurses in Romania were invited to fill in three questionnaires. The results revealed that students’ preference for a deep approach to learning is predicted by the mastery-approach goals, students’ vigour and their dedication. The surface approach to learning was influenced by mastery-avoidance goals, while study engagement did not impact a surface approach to learning. These results add new knowledge regarding the high impact of study engagement on learning, and support the need to find ways to enhance it in the instructional process. From the practical perspective, these personal variables can be influenced by teachers, who can optimise the learning process and finally the students’ academic achievement.

Students’ approach to learning is associated with complex academic competencies, engagement, or achievement and is shaped by their intrinsic motivation to know, supported by the need for competence and autonomy satisfaction. The present study investigated the impact of intrinsic motivation to know on students’ approach to learning (i.e., deep or surface) and whether the satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs moderates the relationships between intrinsic motivation to know and students’ approach to learning. Three hundred and fourteen Romanian university students filled out three self-reported questionnaires. Findings showed that students with a high intrinsic motivation to know and a need for autonomy satisfaction probably use a deep learning approach more often. In contrast, those with a high need for competence satisfaction adopt, to a lesser extent, a surface approach to learning. These results help teachers pay more attention to motivational practices that support students’ learning processes.

International migration has a powerful impact on both the sending and receiving countries, especially for adults migrating for better working conditions and leaving family members, including children, behind. Increasing numbers of left-behind children in Romania (Save the Children Romania, 2019) require attention and support through specific policies and school-based programs. The purpose of this empirical study is to develop and assess a school-based prevention/intervention group counseling program for left-behind children. The program is based on previous social-emotional learning curricula and it incorporates mindfulness technics (Sibinga, Webb, Ghazarian, & Ellen, 2016). It is designed to increase resilience and self-regulatory abilities in children, thus improving their school adjustment in terms of emotional, social, behavioral and attitudinal outcomes. Using a sample of 62 children, aged 12-15 (M = 12.71, SD = .868), we conducted a quasi-randomized trial with a control and an intervention group to investigate the efficacy of the program. Children in the intervention group reported improved self-regulation and resilience and reduced loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Teachers reported significantly fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties for the children following the intervention. This study emphasizes the role of the evidence-based approach to counseling services in schools, by capitalizing on the latest findings in the field and addressing the specific needs of left-behind children.