The dropout intention in higher education is an issue of global concern that has been increasing over the last ten years. The literature indicates that one way to tackle dropout intention is to promote the social integration of students in higher education, where perceived social support and sense of belonging have been shown to have an inverse relationship with dropout intention (Maluenda-Albornoz et al., 2022a). Concurrently, policies that have favored social integration have positively affected the subjective well-being of university students, a variable that inversely predicts the dropout intention (Passeggia et al., 2023).

The present article aims to evaluate a predictive model in which social integration variables predict the dropout intention in higher education when subjective well-being mediates this relationship. The theoretical and empirical relationship established between these will be analyzed for this purpose. Social Support and Sense of Belonging were understood as indicators of Social Integration. Social integration is considered as a predictor of Dropout Intention mediated by Subjective Well-Being.

Dropout intention and social integration variables

University dropout is an issue that has sparked concern in all Higher Education institutions, some of which have developed institutional policies for its prevention (Sosu & Pheunpha, 2019). This occurs because dropping out of studies negatively impacts students and their families in both, the short and long term, undermining success, social mobility and family economy (Cortés-Cáceres et al., 2019). It also impacts higher education because it negatively affects the resources use, accreditation among other efficiency indicators (Toledo-Aceituno & Rojas-Palma, 2019). In summary, society as a whole has been impacted especially in economic and sociocultural spheres.

In recent years, the study of dropout intention has attracted greater interest because it has been shown to be a strong and positive predictor of dropping out of studies (Findeisen et al., 2024) and because it can be detected before students sever their connection with university and study programs. This allows to measure and work on related factors while students are already in higher education and to help to prevent dropout.

The dropout intention is expressed through students' statements about not continuing a degree because they wish to change their program degree, university, educational level (e.g., switching to technical level) or even dropping out of higher education at altogether (Díaz-Mujica et al., 2018).

Adaptation to higher education can be challenging for students because of the complexity of social and academic integration (Garcés-Delgado et al., 2024; Muñoz-Inostroza et al., 2024). Students face multiple challenges, such as living independently, dealing with higher academic difficulty, balancing social and academic life, and for some students, who arrive from other cities, adapting to cultural, social and daily life changes in the new environment. For these reasons, it is important to consider the social dimension of these changes and study how social variables can affect the integration process.

Social integration is understood as the student's adaptation through a positive interpersonal relationship that he/she maintains daily in his/her educational context with peers and/or professors (Díaz-Peralta, 2008). Additionally, aligning with university and program’s culture and with program’s people interest is fundamental to fostering social integration in an academic context (Piepenburg & Beckmann, 2022).

Social integration begins when students have their first contacts with the university. Students form study and social groups, share interests, information, and support with peers and teachers; and progressively create a sense of belonging that connects them to their degree. This integration process encourages them to confront challenges, to put in effort and persist in higher education (Tinto, 2024). This phenomenon implies that university integration is negatively linked to dropout intention and actual dropout (Franz & Paetsch, 2023).

For these reasons, higher education institutions have implemented strategies to strengthen the bond between students and their educational environment, providing support and fostering the students' sense of belonging, which is reflected in higher university retention rates (Donoso et al., 2010). Additionally, researches have shown that the support perceived in higher education is usually determined by the institution's actions and the positive relationships and behaviors carried out by peers and professors (García et al., 2016). Accordingly, it is meaningful to analyze the relationship between these academic social integration variables and the dropout intention in higher education.

Perceived social support and dropout intention

Social support is understood as the level of satisfaction that results from interaction with other people, where positive relationships are formed and transformed into a bond that provides security, approval, and affection. From this approach, perceived social support is a subjective evaluation encompassing personal needs that can be satisfied through several ways of support (Fernández-Lasarte et al., 2019). Therefore, the emotional component is essential in understanding perceived social support, as its importance will be evaluated according to each student's individual experience and need for social contact (Maluenda-Albornoz, et al. 2022a).

In the university environment, social support comes from the network of social relationships that the student maintains with members of their educational community, which is composed of individuals with different roles who belong to the institution, such as peers, administrative staff, and academics (López et al., 2021). Several studies have shown the inverse relationship between perceived social support and the dropout intention, indicating that the higher the perceived support, the lower the dropout intention (Maluenda-Albornoz et al., 2022a; Maluenda-Albornoz et al., 2023).

The amount of support that students perceive can influence dropout through its expressive function (e.g., sharing problems or moments of joy). However, it can also have an instrumental function (e.g., getting help to understand the contents or obtaining good grades) (Ensel & Lin, 1991). Thus, perceived social support can positively affect the student’s experiences by contributing to their socio-affective well-being, solving relevant academic problems, and reducing the effects of academic stress (Davidson & Wilson, 2013). Social support also acts reducing burnout levels by favoring engagement and using more adaptative coping strategies (Alves et al., 2022). Therefore, when students experience difficulty and uncertainty, it is crucial to consider whether the level of perceived support will be essential in deciding whether to continue studying (Sosu & Pheunpha, 2019).

Sense of belonging and dropout intention

The sense of belonging refers to the student’s perception of being part of an educational institution. This perception implies experiencing some level of connection and identification with the institution or human group (Dueñas & Gloria, 2020; Garza et al., 2021); additionally, belonging means to feel respected and valued in the undergraduate program they decided to follow (Holloway-Friesen, 2019). This phenomenon results from a student's social integration in their institution, so the sense of belonging is observed while students are living their social and academic experience in university.

Among the advantages of higher sense of belonging from the students, it is worth mentioning that they perceive more acceptance and feel more valued by their peers and professors (Korhonen et al., 2019). As a result, they become deeply connected to the program’s community, even in periods of crisis when challenges seem difficult and insurmountable (Tinto, 2015). Students who develop a sense of belonging towards their institution will also be more likely to develop higher motivation to complete their training process (Pedler et al, 2022). Conversely, when students feel that they do not belong to their institution, they show lower academic engagement and a diminished desire to complete their studies (Voelkl, 1996).

Studies have shown that the feeling of belonging increases satisfaction with study program, which is also inversely related to dropout intention (Feser et al., 2023). When students create a social network, it facilitates their social integration in university and also brings on sense of belonging (Pavlovic & Jeno, 2024) and enhances academic engagement (Hadjar et al., 2023).

Additionally, several studies have shown that the sense of belonging is inversely related to the dropout intention, indicating that feeling part of the institution leads to a desire to complete their studies (Maluenda-Albornoz, et al., 2022a; Thies & Falk, 2024). These research results are related to the fact that positive relationships with peers and teachers are essential to developing a sense of belonging (Garza et al., 2021).

Some universities have implemented strategies to foster a sense of belonging during university studies. For example, some universities provide individual institutional support through discussion groups when students need it (Suyo-Vega et al., 2022). Mentoring programs are also used to foster relationships between new and old students and to facilitate guidance, especially for first-year students (Pavlovic & Jeno, 2024). Others try to develop a context of support and trust that facilitates positive relationships between peers (Sithaldeen et al., 2022). In any case the focus is on generate significant links between people and connections with the ideas, values and beliefs shared by the community.

The mediating role of well-being

Creating conditions for students to achieve good levels of well-being has been established as a human right in modern societies, which is the reason for the relevance of research in this field (Burgos-Videla et al., 2022). Well-being is a multifaceted construct characterized by objective and subjective components that are cognitively evaluated and related to a positive perspective on the satisfaction with specific and relevant needs (Bücker et al., 2018). Subjective well-being is understood as the feeling or belief that life is going well; therefore, it implies an evaluation of the quality of life from a personal perspective (Diener et al., 2020).

In the educational field, subjective well-being is defined as a cognitive function that ensures the student’s performance and ability to lead a happy and fulfilling life and correct academic development and performance (Eloff et al., 2021). For these reasons, Higher Education institutions have considered the importance of students being inserted into an educational context that promotes their subjective well-being to favor their academic development (Douwes et al., 2023; Sherman, 2020). This is because, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the subjective well-being and mental health of university students have become a focus of interest, given that this period of confinement intensified the previous mental health problems that students had, leading them to experience academic difficulties linked to lower motivation that resulted in the likelihood of dropping out of their studies (Li et al., 2021).

In the educational context, it can be observed that social relationships with teachers and peers are relevant for developing a higher well-being. Researches have shown that teachers can positively influence well-being by promoting the autonomy and perseverance of their students, thus raising their intrinsic motivation, group cohesion, and satisfaction with life (Lozano-Jiménez et al., 2021). Also, Students who have greater social support and feels more connected to their peers, present more psychological well-being (Hartl et al., 2022; Holliman et al., 2021; Holliman et al., 2022). On the contrary, when students feel isolated and perceived social rejection, they also experience a decrease in their psychological well-being (Dodd et al., 2021) sometimes leading even to anxiety and depression (Das et al., 2023).

On the other hand, the relationship between well-being and university dropout is not conclusive. On one hand, several authors argue that low levels of well-being impair academic performance and that this would be one of the reasons for thinking about dropping out (Lipson & Eisenberg, 2018). On the other hand, some authors argue that it is the different academic concerns that lead students to have low well-being and, therefore, lead them to dropout (Baik et al., 2019).

Notwithstanding these differences in approaching the relationship between well-being and dropout, several studies have shown that mental health favors academic processes during university studies (Enrique et al., 2023) with consequences in student’s decision-making processes. An educational context that promotes well-being can favor the student’s academic development (Douwes et al., 2023; Sherman, 2020) and a diminished well-being can influence poor academic performance and results (Wingert et al., 2022).

In the field of dropout studies, for first-year students, it has been observed that a greater subjective well-being is inversely related to dropout intention (Passeggia et al., 2023). Additionally, when university students, in general, show better cognitive and emotional regulation, they also show more well-being, which is inversely related to dropout (Cruz et al., 2020). For these reasons, universities are implementing social integration policies that aim to improve the well-being of this population (Coello-Tumbaco et al., 2019). Initiatives focused on social support and a sense of belonging have played a fundamental role (Khatri & Duggal, 2022) showing positive effects of these social integration strategies, generating greater well-being and lower dropout (Hartl et al., 2022; Kamaruzaman et al., 2020).

For some authors these results are due students feeling pride of their schools, contributing to their personal acceptance and psychological well-being (Khatri & Duggal, 2022). For others, it rises from the fact that it allows them to know themselves, analyze their place in the world, and set goals that favor better well-being in university life (Sherman, 2020). In any case, the above is determined by student’s positive experiences, comprising an essential part of their university life; so social integration variables become a fundamental indicator of subjective well-being (Fong & Loi, 2016).

The present study

The literature suggests that social integration variables are directly related to well-being and inversely related to the dropout intention; likewise, well-being would inversely predict dropout intention of university. This article aims to assess a predictive model in which social integration variables predict the dropout intention of university studies when subjective well-being mediates this relationship.

Method

A cross-sectional study with a non-experimental design was conducted. The sample was non-probabilistic, with the participation of social science students from three Chilean universities: one public, one private and one private with public funds. The inclusion criteria were to be psychology and social work students, and accept voluntary to participate in the study. The total sample consisted of 891 students, eliminated all the cases that did not have all the information necessary to carry out the analyses (4.26 %), either because they left questions unanswered or entered incorrect information. The final sample consisted of 853 students, with a mean age of 23.63 years (SD = 12.85), with 228 males (26.73 %) and 625 females (73.27 %).

Instruments

Sense of Belonging

This variable was assessed based on the "belonging" dimension from the Questionnaire of Organizational Identification with Study Institutions developed by Yáñez et al. (2006) and adapted for university students by Maluenda-Albornoz et al. (2022b). The version used has reported evidence of validity in terms of its internal structure (ω > 0.839; α > 0.836; RMSEA = < 0.05, CFI = 0.915, TLI = 0.901, SRMR = 0.005). The factor is measured with four items in a five option Likert scale, ranging from "Strongly disagree" (1) to "Strongly agree" (5), so the minimum score to obtain was four and the maximum 20, where a higher score indicates more significant sense of belonging of the student.

Social Support

This variable was assessed through a factor inspired by the conceptual proposal of Biasi et al. (2018), with validity evidence in Chile from Maluenda et al. (2022a). This scale has demonstrated good psychometric properties (ω = 0.823; α = 0.798; RMSEA = 0.072 [95% CI: 0.041 - 0.131]; χ2 = 11.616, p = 0.003; CFI = 0.997; TLI = 0.992; SRMR = 0.011). The factor comprises four items measuring perceived support in the educational context. It has a five-option response Likert scale ranging from "Strongly disagree" (1) to "Strongly agree" (5); therefore, the minimum score that can be obtained is five, and the maximum is 25.

Subjective Well-being

The Satisfaction with Life scale by Diener et al. (1985) was used to evaluate this variable, with its version validated in Chile by Berríos-Riquelme et al. (2021). This unifactorial scale demonstrated good psychometric properties (ω = 0.813; α = 0.800; RMSEA = 0.068 [90% CI: 0.027 to 0.109]; χ2 = 10.57; p = 0.061; CFI = 0.979; TLI = 0.959; SRMR = 0.049). The construct consists of five items that measure a person's satisfaction with their life. It has a Likert response scale with seven options ranging from "Strongly disagree" (1) to "Strongly agree" (7), so the minimum score that can be obtain would be seven and the maximum 35. The higher the score, the better the student's subjective well-being.

Dropout Intention

This variable was studied using four items previously employed in research with university students (Maluenda-Albornoz et al., 2021). The construct measures a student's intentions to drop out of their study program. The cited study observed good psychometric properties for its proposed unifactorial structure (RMSEA = 0.074; CFI = 0.999; TLI = 0.996; SRMR = 0.004; ω > 0.834; α > 0.834). It has a Likert response scale with five options ranging from "Strongly disagree" (1) to "Strongly agree" (5). The minimum possible score is five, and the maximum is 25, where the higher the score, the higher the dropout intention of their studies.

Procedure

The present study is part of a research project that aims to assess the mental health of university students in Chile. This initiative was financed by a “Research Project for Innovation in Higher Education” and received the approval from the Scientific Ethical Committee of the same institution. This institution did not interfere with or influence the development of the research at any time.

The fieldwork was conducted in three Chilean universities during the last quarter of 2022. University authorities were asked for permission to carry out the sampling, and they provided the facilities to leave the questionnaires in the classrooms where the students regularly attended their activities. Upon arrival at the classroom, the research team explained the study's objective, the confidential use of the data, the voluntary nature of participation, and that no form of reward would be offered for answering the questionnaire. Afterward, the informed consent form was given to the students who agreed to participate; they had to read and sign the document before answering the questionnaire. The time taken by the students to answer the battery of instruments ranged from 30 to 40 minutes. Subsequently, all analyses were carried out using MPLUS version 8 software (Muthén & Muthén, 2017).

Statistical Analysis

The first step was to analyze the descriptive statistics for each variable. Secondly, the psychometric properties of the instruments were analyzed, focusing on the evidence of intergroup validity to test the equivalence between the groups, considering the gender variable in all the measurement models to compare the differences in fit between the nested models. Finally, the structural equation model was evaluated to test the research hypothesis with the hypothesized mediational model.

The three steps proposed by Kline (2011) for evaluating structural equation models were followed to test the proposed mediational model and the associated research hypotheses. The first step involved specifying the model evaluated, defining the variables included and their relationships based on the literature reviewed; in the present study, social support and sense of belonging are the exogenous variables, subjective well-being is the mediating variable, and dropout intention is the dependent variable. The second step was to estimate the model using the Weighted Least Square Mean and Variance Adjusted (WLSMV) estimator, which allows more reliable results when working with ordinal variables (Li, 2016). The third and last step was to calculate the goodness-of-fit indices to evaluate the hypothesized model, where the reference values for evaluating the model are those proposed by Hair et al. (2014) [statistically significant χ², CFI, TLI, NNFI, and NFI ≥ 0.90 and RMSEA ≤ 0.08].

Results

Descriptive statistics (Table 1) show that the Asymmetry and Kurtosis indices are between values 0 and 2, which is considered acceptable for assuming a distribution of values that approximates a normal distribution (Kline, 2011).

Factorial invariance

An assessment was performed to evaluate whether the instrument’s scores were equivalent in the three samples prior to testing the research hypothesis. For this purpose, the factorial invariance test was carried out using the gender variable for comparison.

The results show that for all measures of the null hypothesis, the adjustment indexes are good across all levels of invariance (Table 2). Based on these results, testing the hypothesized mediational model through structural equation modeling is feasible.

Structural Equation Model

SEM analysis considered social support and sense of belonging as exogenous variables, well-being as mediator, and dropout intention as dependent variable. The analysis determined that the model presents good fit indices for all the measures considered.

The χ² showed a statistically significant value [χ²(113) = 403.108; p < 0.001]; however, this indicator is usually overestimated with high sample sizes, so the χ²/gl ratio was calculated as a complement, obtaining a value that is considered acceptable in the literature (χ²/gl= 3.56).

Regarding the fit indices, the analysis showed good values (RMSEA < 0.045 [95 % CI 0.039 to 0.052; CFI > 0.95; TLI > 0.94, NNFI > 0.094; NFI > 0.933]. All measurement models had excellent factor loadings ranging from 0.501 to 0.855.

All regression coefficients between variables were statistically significant (Figure 1). Upon analyzing the proposed model, the results showed that two exogenous variables have an inverse relationship with the dropout intention, and at the same time, this effect is mediated by subjective well-being.

Discussion and conclusion

The present research aimed to evaluate a predictive model where social integration variables predict the university dropout intention when subjective well-being mediates this relationship. The main result of the research was that mediation was partial, which implies the presence of a direct effect and a mediated effect of the exogenous variables. The positive effects of social integration are channeled through subjective well-being to decrease the dropout intention. However, the decrease in the dropout intention can also be explained through the effect exerted by the integration variables alone. Consequently, the discussion should be carried out considering both of these effects.

First, the direct effect may occur because the availability of sufficient affective support (e.g., emotional support) and instrumental support (e.g., getting good grades, getting help to understand a subject) acts as help for students in facing complex situations of university life (Ensel & Lin, 1991; Maluenda-Albornoz et al., 2022a). Secondly, the indirect effect would occur through the positive impact of these types of social support on the students’ well-being. When students perceive social support, this positively affects their well-being because positive and significant social relationships imply positive effects and reduce negative ones (Ali & Smith, 2015; Peltzer & Pengpid, 2017).

Regarding the inverse relationship between the sense of belonging and the dropout intention, previous researches have shown that a greater sense of belonging will lead students to actively participate in the life and activities of the educational institution, favoring their identification and connection with their career, which will result in lower dropping out intentions (Sosu & Pheunpha, 2019). In this sense, feeling part of an academic community negatively predicts dropout intention because avoid students to be disassociating from the academic and social culture in which they are immersed, since it connects with their own identity (Tinto, 2015) but also, because belonging enhances this connection, providing students reasons to stay and preserve the positive social, cultural, and emotional effects of being part of it.

Another important finding was the theoretical relationship between social integration variables and subjective well-being. This association was positive and statistically significant confirming previous studies (Suhlmann et al., 2018).

According to previous research (Ensel & Lin, 1991; Maluenda-Albornoz et al., 2022b) the relationship between Social Support and Subjective Well-being could be explained by the effect that instrumental support has on the reduction of concrete problems through the academic and social university life. Additionally, Social Support from friends and professors allows them to contain negative emotions and to share positive ones. Furthermore, maintaining meaningful connections with friends and professors could be a Social Support factor that would increase the levels of well-being experienced by the person.

The relationship between sense of belonging and well-being could be explained by the importance of feeling part of a community where meaningful relationships are established with others. Identification with cultural and social aspects of the group is a crucial aspect in the construction of the personal identity (Ojeda et al., 2016). It becomes more valuable if we consider that university students are beginning the stage of emerging adulthood, which involves challenges related to a greater independence, the definition of personal identity, and professional identity (Barrera-Herrera & Vinet, 2017).

Subjective well-being significantly and inversely predicted dropout intention from study programs. It is relevant to understand the relationship between subjective well-being and dropout intention when students experience life crises that are difficult to overcome or face academic situations that involve high emotional exhaustion (Samuel & Burger, 2020; Wingert et al., 2022). In this sense, low well-being would encourage the decision to drop out of studies, especially when there are some other critical factors combined. On the other hand, subjective well-being has been shown to be a positive factor that would allow coping with stress and academic burnout in a better way (Polanco et al., 2014).

Benefits of the findings

Higher Education Institutions can promote university orientation programs focused on social integration from the first year of university, thus providing a systematic work agenda that addresses psychosocial aspects that benefit the subjective well-being of students and facilitates the development of coping strategies, which will be essential to reduce students’ t dropout intentions during their professional training.

Higher education institutions can also incorporate working with social integration variables within the units that promote university permanence and well-being. For example, students who feel excluded from the university and have low levels of social integration should be a signal to evaluate the institutional practices implemented by the different units that provide support or organize activities to foster social support, and sense of belonging.

Limitations

The limitations inherent in a study of this type must be considered. The first limitation is carrying out the study based on a limited sampling. Therefore, the interpretation and generalization of the data should be made with caution. Since only social science students participated in this research, it is necessary to replicate it with students from other areas, such as engineering or health sciences, as the results may vary. In this line, although the invariance analyses evidenced acceptable adjustment indexes, some of them present values at the limit of what is considered acceptable in the literature, which could indicate slight discrepancies in how the participants understand and respond to the items; this limitation must be considered for future research that seeks to study these variables in a cross-cultural context. Considering these limitations, it is also suggested that the study should be replicated in other cultural contexts, which will be beneficial for a holistic view in the understanding of the importance of the variables of social integration of university students.

Future research lines

Further studies should consider whether social integration variables decrease the dropout intention in the same way among first-year students and seniors, as the longer a student stays in university, the more support they need (Cobo-Rendón et al., 2020). It might be interesting to consider whether the results obtained can be replicated with students who are the first generation of their family in university compared to students who come from a family with one or more parents with professional degrees. The analysis of these differences would help guide the strategies that could be used to provide support or encourage the sense of belonging to the educational institution depending on the student’s family background.

Pursuing further research on subjective well-being in higher education is imperative, as it may have a positive impact on other variables that would favor the successful completion of university studies. Other variables to consider include the motivation to attend classes, learning capacity, or simply exam preparation. Therefore, further research on students’ subjective well-being will benefit both practice and research in higher education. It is also paramount for reducing the dropout intention of university studies.

Finally, and due to the nature of the psychosocial variables studied, one important future direction should be planning a longitudinal study to assess the stability of subjective well-being as a mediating variable in the relationship between social integration and university dropout.

Suggestions for higher education policies

Based on the findings, it is possible to make specific proposals for implementing Higher Education policies, with a focus on ensuring that the services provided by universities aim to improve the educational experience in a comprehensive manner to improve students' subjective well-being (Rappleye et al., 2020). It is essential to develop policies and programs. In addition to academic aspects, institutions must take actions that improve the students’ well-being to successfully complete their studies (Khatri and Duggal, 2022).

Universities should become the leading advocates for promoting social integration and well-being throughout the entire university academic program, as this will allow students to develop strategies that will be useful to them during their transition to the working world (Enrique et al., 2023). Students can achieve social integration and well-being by working on emotional factors to achieve self-knowledge (Sherman, 2020), thereby, strengthening their well-being to increase university retention.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the project “Fortalecimiento Grupos de Investigación N°6758-25.” All authors declare authorship of this article, no conflicts of interest, and that no AI tools were used in the development of this document. The authors contributed to the study as follows: Conceptualization: José Berríos-Riquelme and Jorge Maluenda-Albornoz. Methodology: Jorge Maluenda-Albornoz, José Berríos-Riquelme, and Matías Zamorano-Veragua. Formal analysis and investigation: José Berríos-Riquelme, Jorge Maluenda-Albornoz, Cristóbal Pulido-Iparraguirre, Gustavo Castillo-Rozas, and Matías Zamorano-Veragua. Writing – original draft preparation: José Berríos-Riquelme and Jorge Maluenda-Albornoz. Writing – review and editing: Jorge Maluenda-Albornoz, José Berríos-Riquelme, Matías Zamorano-Veragua, Cristóbal Pulido-Iparraguirre, and Gustavo Castillo-Rozas. Funding acquisition: José Berríos-Riquelme.

References

Notes

^* Research article.

Author notes

^aCorrespondence author. Email: jberrios@uta.cl

Additional information

How to cite: Berríos-Riquelme, J., Maluenda-Albornoz, J., Zamorano-Veragua, M., Pulido-Iparraguire, C., & Castillo-Rozas, G. (2025). Social Integration, Subjective Well-being, and Dropout Intention: A Predictive Model in Higher Education. Universitas Psychologica, 24, 1-XX. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy24.sisw

Descargar