Revisiting the relation between academic buoyancy and coping: A network analysis

Academic buoyancy, the capacity to respond to minor academic adversities, is expected to enable students to effectively deal with failure. Prior research, however, has shown negligible relations between buoyancy and coping, but only considered a limited set of coping strategies. In addition, academic buoyancy and effective coping are expected to positively relate to higher academic achievement. However, studies examining how coping could mediate relations from academic buoyancy to achievement are lacking. In the present study (N = 535 upper secondary students, mean age 16.4 years), we examined relations between students’ buoyancy, coping with an examination failure, and academic achievement. We considered an extensive set of nine coping strategies (five adaptive, four maladaptive) and used a novel network analysis, alongside traditional analytic approaches (correlation, structural equation modelling). Buoyancy and coping were assessed with self-report, and achievement from an end-of-year examination. Buoyancy was positively related with adaptive, and negatively with maladaptive, coping strategies both in structural equation modeling and in the network analysis. In addition, structural equation modeling showed positive and negative indirect relations between buoyancy and achievement that were mediated by adaptive coping strategies. Our findings suggest that buoyancy interventions to enhance adaptive, and reduce maladaptive, coping strategies could be suitable ways to help students overcome examination failure.