Social support in all forms is a key protective factor for psychosocial success in the transition to university¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? General, familial, and peer social support consistently showed that greater support predicts better psychosocial outcomes in the transition. → Ball 2025 q2 i? Greater social skill or confidence in social settings, and greater desire to develop social skills and engage in social activities, were also protective. → Ball 2025 (2)

Evidence¶

Ball 2025¶

Ball, I., Banerjee, M., Holliman, A., & Tyndall, I. (2025). Investigating Success in the Transition to University: A Systematic Review of Personal Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Psychosocial Success. https://osf.io/vxu5q?view_only=ee23e20f57c54891b842c92b7a4858de

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative synthesis of the social factors domain (Table A5) across the retained longitudinal studies; the review concludes "social support in all forms is a key protective factor of student success in the transition".

"The general assessments of social support and those that focus on familial and peer support, consistently identify that the greater the support the better the outcomes"

Ball 2025 (2)¶

Ball, I., Banerjee, M., Holliman, A., & Tyndall, I. (2025). Investigating Success in the Transition to University: A Systematic Review of Personal Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Psychosocial Success. https://osf.io/vxu5q?view_only=ee23e20f57c54891b842c92b7a4858de

q2 · i? · review · r2

Within the social factors domain, the review reports that social skills factors and social motivations (greater desire for developing social skills and engaging in social activities) were protective. No pooled effect size is printed.

"having greater skill, or confidence in social settings was identified as being a protective factor to student success"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Social Supports — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• A systematic review of 32 longitudinal studies identified 96 personal risk and protective factors for psychosocial transition success, consolidated into 16 salient elements across five higher-order domains — a broader claim this one bears on
• Adjustment variables show the largest coefficients of any factor domain but are typically measured after arrival, limiting their use for designing pre-transition interventions — related
• Most extracted associations are small: 219 of nearly 500 coefficients fall below a medium effect size, with conscientiousness–academic adjustment (.64) the largest — related