Un alto porcentaje de alumnado universitario posterga sus actividades académicas, siendo causa de dificultades académicas y personales. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar y caracterizar la procrastinación académica, y su relación con el uso de estrategias de aprendizaje metacognitivas, estrategias socioafectivas, y con el rendimiento académico en estudiantes universitarios. La muestra estuvo formada por 794 estudiantes de grados y másteres de títulos de educación, que completaron la Escala de Procrastinación Académica (EPA), la Escala de Evaluación de Procrastinación para Estudiantes (PASS), y las escalas Estrategias Metacognitivas y Estrategias Socioafectivas de las escalas ACRA. Mediante análisis descriptivos, correlacionales, contraste de muestras, y de regresión lineal jerárquica, se constata que hay un alto porcentaje de estudiantes que procrastinan habitualmente, y que consideran que esta conducta les es perjudicial. Se produce una relación negativa entre la procrastinación académica con el rendimiento académico, y el uso de estrategias metacognitivas y socioafectivas. Las mujeres presentan menor grado de procrastinación académica que los varones, aunque consideran que es una conducta más perjudicial para sus actividades académicas. También difieren en una mayor atribución a la falta de empatía y baja autoconfianza por las mujeres, frente a la búsqueda de excitación por parte de los varones. No se encuentran diferencias entre cursos, edad o si realizan o no alguna actividad laboral. Las variables más predictoras de la conducta procrastinadora son el bajo uso de estrategias metacognitivas y la falta de energía y autocontrol. Se discuten las implicaciones de los resultados en actuaciones específicas para reducir la procrastinación en estudiantes universitarios.

This study responds to an important research gap around the impact of socioemotional variables and mental health on young emerging adults in the Spanish university context. Although previous research has explored these dynamics in international populations, there is limited knowledge about how these interactions manifest in the Mediterranean cultural model of transition to adulthood, characterised by distinctive socioeconomic and familial factors. This paper not only describes the prevalence of symptoms of psychological distress, but also identifies protective (social support and emotional clarity) and risk (substance use) variables, highlighting the need for specific interventions in Spanish universities. The sample included 727 students aged 18–29, who completed questionnaires on emerging adulthood, mental health (DASS-21), social support (MSPSS), emotional intelligence (TMMS-24), alcohol (AUDIT-C) and cannabis (CAST) use. This cross-sectional, correlational study used statistical analysis to explore gender differences and predictors of symptomatology. The results show a high prevalence of symptoms of emotional distress, with more than 55% of students showing symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress. This indicates the presence of these symptoms but does not necessarily imply clinical significance or a formal diagnosis. Gender differences were observed: females showed higher levels of anxiety and stress, while males showed higher levels of alcohol and cannabis use. In addition, social support from friends and certain dimensions of emotional intelligence (emotional clarity and emotional repair) were inversely associated with symptomatology, suggesting a protective role. This study provides valuable insights into the relationship between emerging adulthood and mental health problems, highlighting the need for interventions in universities that promote emotional well-being and addiction prevention. In addition, the findings highlight the need to promote the development of emotional skills and social support networks to mitigate symptoms such as anxiety, depression and stress.

This descriptive and transversal study, carried out on an intentional sample of 211 subjects who were split in terms of their consumption of psychoactive substances over the last month and who were aged between 18 and 28 (M = 21.36, and SD = 1.90), aimed to explore the emotional intelligence, perceived socio-family support and academic performance of university students vis-à-vis their consumption of drugs and to examine the link between them. The goal was to define university student consumer profile through a regression model using the multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (EMAS) and the Trait Meta Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) as instruments, together with academic performance and gender. The results report alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis consumption rates that are above the levels indicated by the Spanish household survey on alcohol and drugs in Spain (EDADES 2019) for the 15–34-year-old age range in Castilla y León. A certain link was observed between the consumption of substances and academic performance, although no differences were seen in academic performance in terms of consumer type. There was also no clear link observed between emotional intelligence and academic performance or between social support and academic performance. The predictive contribution of the variables included in the regression model was low (9%), which would advocate completing the model with other predictive variables until more appropriate predictability conditions can be found.

Peer rejection occurs at all stages of education, including infant education, and entails serious consequences, both immediately and in the future, in all areas of children’s development. This study aims to gain insight into the link between peer rejection and academic performance, mediated by the presence of special educational needs (SEN). The study involved the participation of 758 students (397 male) in the second cycle of early childhood education (3–6 years old) in Spain who were given a sociometric test to ascertain the sociometric distribution of each classroom. Their teachers were asked to record the academic performance of each student in terms of language, logic-mathematics, psychomotor ability, and overall performance. Teachers were also asked to identify whether or not students had SEN. By applying a multivariate variance analysis (MANOVA) that considered the presence or otherwise of peer rejection and the presence or otherwise of SEN as independent variables, results show that rejected students display poorer academic performance in all areas. The same was also found to be true for those with SEN. As a result, rejected students with SEN are seen to exhibit the poorest academic performance and suffer two-fold stigmatisation.

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive sample of 727 university students, aged 18 to 29 years (M = 21.09, SD = 2.45), grouped based on their psychoactive substance use in the past month. The study aimed to explore drug use and its relationship with academic performance among university students in Castilla y León, Spain. Additionally, it sought to determine whether significant differences in academic performance were associated with potential predictor variables, including absenteeism, substance use, traits of emerging adulthood, and other health-related factors such as depression, anxiety, and stress. The results indicated higher consumption rates of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis compared to those reported in the Household Survey on Alcohol and Drugs in Spain (EDADES 2022) for individuals aged 15 to 34 in Castilla y León. A relationship between substance use and academic performance was identified, with performance differences observed based on the type of consumer. Although the predictive contribution of the variables included in the regression model was low (10.6%), it remained significant, suggesting the need to refine the model by incorporating additional variables to enhance understanding of the phenomenon. These findings can assist universities in designing preventive interventions.

In the early years of schooling, peer groups are key to fostering students’ overall learning and development. Yet it has been found that around 10% of children suffer from peer rejection in the classroom, with this problem entailing negative consequences both in the short and long term. The problem proves difficult for adults to detect, which usually leads to a delay in measures being taken to intervene and prevent it. This study applies an experimental design with pre-test and post-test measurements in two groups—experimental and control—in order to address the problem of rejection in the early years of schooling. It explores aspects such as sociometric type, degree of victimisation, social and antisocial behaviour, as well as problematic situations among 637 students at six schools. We then implement an intervention programme for socioemotional competence throughout a school year in an effort to improve students’ social skills and relationships, focusing specifically on preventing and reducing the rejection experienced by some of these children. The programme comprises 35 teaching activities and strategies that promote the development of competences for student inclusion (curbing aggression, encouraging teamwork, fostering self-esteem, etc.) and that seek to involve all students, teachers, and relatives by offering an array of complementary resources that enrich the initiatives applied (a programme calendar, assessment notebook, questionnaires, related website, material resources). After the intervention programme, it was found that the experimental group had reduced the percentage of students who suffered rejection from 9.9% to 7.3%, although the same was not true of the control group, which went from 9.5% of rejected students to 10.2%. The reduction in the percentage of rejected students in the experimental group after the application of the programme is an encouraging result that invites us to continue working on more comprehensive interventions to prevent and reduce this phenomenon.