Engagement or Studyholism? Psychological Pathways Between Emotional Study Demands and University Adjustment

The transition to university requires students to adjust across academic, social, institutional, and personal–emotional domains. Although more studying is often assumed to support better university outcomes, less is known about how students with heavy study investment (HSI) experience this transition, especially when studying is driven by emotional demands. This study examined whether study engagement and studyholism mediate the association between emotional study demands and adaptation, and whether lecturer support moderates these pathways. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 336 university students. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed direct, indirect, and moderation relationships across four adaptation domains. Emotional study demands had direct negative associations with personal and academic adaptation, but not with social or institutional adaptation. However, emotional study demands were positively associated with study engagement, which was positively associated with adaptation across all four domains. By contrast, studyholism partially mediated the negative association between emotional study demands and personal adaptation. Lecturer support was positively associated with study engagement but did not moderate the relationship between emotional demands and engagement. Overall, the findings highlight the need to distinguish adaptive engagement from studyholism when supporting students’ transition to university.