Proactive Coping Strategies Among First-Years in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

This chapter explores how first-year students at higher education institutions deal with adjustment issues, with a focus on proactive coping strategies. Students in their first year of university must adjust to a range of constraints, including emotional, cognitive, social, and intellectual commitments, which can create significant stress and feelings of hopelessness given that the transition from school to higher education can be stressful. Coping, a fundamental process necessary for adaptation and survival, shows how individuals recognise, evaluate, respond to, and take away lessons from stressful situations. The emerging directions include development of programmes to help learners prepared for higher education and quickly adapt to their new circumstances. Additionally, the emergence of developmental theories that depict student-adoptable coping mechanisms.