The Academic Threat Appraisal Ratio Scale (ATARS): Insights into attainment, academic progression, and retention in higher education.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies examining threat appraisal and the influence of stress on human performance conclude that a challenge state leads to better performance than a threat state. Despite its potential, threat appraisal, particularly using self-report measures, has been the subject of limited investigation in applied higher educational contexts.

Aims: The study explored the potential of self-report academic threat appraisal to explain academic progression and drop out in first-year students and investigated associations between self-report academic threat appraisal and relevant non-cognitive factors.

Sample: The sample comprised 186 first-year undergraduate university students.

Method: Students completed a newly adapted self-report threat appraisal measure, the Academic Threat Appraisal Ratio Scale (ATARS), at the beginning of their degree course. End-of-year grade point average and academic progression were also measured along with self-report measures of academic self-efficacy, academic resilience, grit, and mindset.

Results: Findings revealed that a significantly greater proportion of students eliciting a challenge state progressed at first attempt, and of those students failing to progress at first attempt, a significantly greater proportion had elicited a threat state (χ² (1) = 4.445, p = .035). Furthermore, academic threat appraisal was identified as a significant predictor of academic progression, while academic self-efficacy was identified as a significant predictor of academic threat appraisal.

Conclusions: Evidence supports self-report academic threat appraisal as a significant factor in student attainment and academic progression in higher education, suggesting that the ATARS offers a relatively simple, valid, and scalable tool for early screening of students, enabling targeted student support.