During the last decades, self-regulation (SR) interest and available research have notably increased, due to its proven influence on academic and professional performance, goals achievement, health and wellness. SR’s development can take years; however, it is a learned process which can be taught. Therefore, it is necessary to further understand how SR evolves along academic years and its relationship with student’s academic performance. The research objectives were: a) analyse the Self-regulation Questionnaire (SRQ, Brown et.al., 1999) structure in Colombian Students, and b) identify differences in SR between high-school, college and postgraduate students.

Method

304 students participated, 184 women and 120 men. 31.8% were in high school, 36.3% were in college and 31.8% were postgraduate students. The original SRQ is composed of 63 items in a 7 factors structure which represent the self-regulation process. Diverse studies have indicated that the SRQ doesn’t have a unique factor structure; thus, understanding its factorial structure with Colombian students is required.

Results

A factorial analysis was performed to understand SRQ structure with Colombian students. Results showed a 4 factors and 40 items structure which represents four components of SR (goals setting, monitoring, persistence, and social desirability).

To identify differences in high school, college and postgraduate students’ SR, a one way ANOVA was performed. Results showed significant differences between the groups regarding the four SR components. Poshoc Bonferroni analysis indicated most differences are between high-school and college, as between high school and postgraduate.

Discussion

There are significant differences in 3 out of 4 SR components between high-school and college, as between high-school and postgraduate students. It can indicate that the highest SR evolution takes place when high-schoolers face the challenge university represents. This transition phase should be further supported.