Psychosocial factors associated with intention to pursue tertiary education among Malawian students: the moderating effect of mental health

Table 4 Linear regression of RANAS psychosocial factors explaining the intention to apply for TE

Psychosocial factor	B	β	t	p-Value
*Risk Factors*
Perceived vulnerability ***	0.215	0.212	5.969	0.000
Perceived severity	0.038	0.037	1.166	0.244
Factual knowledge (sum 0–6)	-0.004	-0.002	-0.092	0.926
*Attitude Factors*
Instrumental beliefs (effort)	-0.013	-0.012	-0.601	0.548
Affective beliefs ***	0.162	0.134	2.883	0.004
*Norm Factors*
Descriptive norm (school)	0.001	0.001	0.035	0.972
Descriptive norm (country)	-0.027	-0.019	-0.952	0.341
Injunctive norm ***	0.128	0.108	3.164	0.002
Personal norm ***	0.126	0.116	2.884	0.004
*Ability Factors*
Action knowledge (sum 0–11)	-0.002	-0.001	− 0.0061	0.951
Skills	-0.017	-0.017	-0.838	0.402
Self-efficacy ***	0.195	0.187	4.771	0.000
Maintenance self-efficacy	-0.031	-0.026	-0.769	0.442
Recovery self-efficacy	0.049	0.044	1.530	0.126
*Self-regulation Factors*
Action control/planning	0.020	0.018	0.503	0.615
Coping planning	-0.003	-0.012	-0.639	0.523
Remembering	-0.009	-0.007	-0.305	0.760
Commitment ***	0.141	0.134	3.395	0.001
*Additional Factors*
Communication	0.006	0.005	0.198	0.843
Mental health	-0.044	-0.018	-0.907	0.365

Note. *p ≤ 0 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001. Adj. R² = 0.705. N = 821; B = unstandardized beta value; β = standardized beta value; Behavioural question: Do you intend to apply for university studies? All responses were recorded on 5-point response scales with choices from ‘1 - not at all’ to ‘5– very much’. Coping plan scale: 0–1 (No/Yes); factual knowledge: sum scale (0–6); action knowledge: sum scale (0–11); Mental health: 0–1 (0 = good mental health, 1 = poor mental health, cut-off ≥ 15 with score range 0–60)

ISSN: 2050-7283