Social, academic, and emotional self-efficacies in adolescent girls and their determinants: a cross sectional study

Objectives: To examine the levels of social, academic, and emotional self-efficacy in school-aged girls and to identify the factors that contribute to these self-efficacies.

Methods: This study included 246 girls in Sistan and Baluchistan, located in southeastern Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 246 teenagers between the ages of 11 and 18 and the questionnaire consisted of a demographic form, the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C), the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI).

Results: The mean scores for social, academic, and emotional self-efficacies were found to be 27.24 ± 5.67, 30.52 ± 6.47, and 22.29 ± 6.36, respectively. All categories of self-efficacy had mean scores that were higher than the questionnaire midpoint. Furthermore, for every type of self-efficacy, the study identified significant predictors. To be more precise, social self-efficacy was significantly predicted by anxiety, depression, and education level (R²=13.7 %, p<0.001). Additionally, anxiety and age were significant predictors of academic self-efficacy (R²=4.9 %, p=0.002). Lastly, anxiety and education level were significant predictors of emotional self-efficacy (R²=9.2 %, p<0.001).

Conclusions: The results suggest that focusing on reducing depression and anxiety levels could potentially have a positive impact on various aspects of self-efficacy.