The impact of social support, coping strategies, and interpersonal orientation on studnts' adaptation to university: Transition theory as a framework

When transitioning to university from high school, students may encounter various changes and challenges that cause them undergo a stressful situation that may incorporate giving up their education, transferring their education from one department or university to another, failing their classes, and so on. Transition simply refers to changes that occur in someone's life that lead to changes in roles and routines. These changes require a corresponding change in assumptions and behavior on the part of the individual and they are a reflection of sociological, psychological, environmental, and biological factors. They encounter the individual with a number of demands. Adapting to transitions requires students to respond to the various demands of college and the university life appropriately. Adaptation can be affected by a number of factors ranging from demographic, social, psychological, and individual factors. Therefore, students need to be provided with the necessary amount of social support from both parents and peers, use convenient coping strategies, and develop a high level of interpersonal orientation. The current investigation sought to explore the amount of social support provided to students, the common coping strategies they employed during their adaptation to transition, and their level of interpersonal orientation as well as the impact of each one of these on adaptation and on one another, proceeding within Schlossberg's transition theory. To achieve the stated aims above, the study used a simple random sample comprised of 540 students from a public university in the northern part of Iraq. Students completed a survey by answering questions about their level of social support, the common coping strategies used by them, and their level of interpersonal orientation. Frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, correlation matrix, correlation coefficient, Cronbach Alpha, one-way a nova and t tests were utilized to analyze the collected data and examine the correlations.The findings of the study demonstrated that the only variable that could predict students' adaptation was the use of coping strategies. However, the other variables, namely social support and interpersonal orientation did not impact on adaptation. It further revealed that students' social support and adaptation recorded a low level while the level of interpersonal orientation was high among students. Additionally, the commonest coping strategies employed by students included the strategy of asking others for help and problem-solving strategy. Finally, the results acknowledge the role of social support in students' adaptation to university, especially in the context in question. The study extends the literature by introducing a variable, namely interpersonal orientation whose influence on adaptation has not been examined yet. The study ended with the recommendation that the university registration departments support students and that orientation programs be opened for familiarizing them with the university environment and its demands. Keywords: Social Support, Coping Strategies, Interpersonal orientation, Adaptation, Transition Theory