Table 2 Summary of psychological variables evaluated in the included studies

Academic self-efficacy

• a belief in one’s ability to achieve desired results from one’s behaviour in academic settings. Students high in academic self-efficacy perceive tasks, difficulties, and setbacks as challenges to be overcome rather than threats [43, 71]

Adaptability

• the extent to which an individual is able to adjust and modify (manage) cognitive (thoughts), behavioural (actions) and emotional (affective) functioning in the face of changing, novel and uncertain circumstances, situations or conditions [39, 72]

Body image

• the mental image we have of the size, shape and contour of our own bodies as well as of our feelings about these characteristics and the parts that constitute our bodies [29]

Coping

• Strategies adopted to reduce stressors. These can include problem focused approaches or emotion focused strategies and individuals may adopt a variety during the course of a stressful situation [73]

Emotion regulation

• how a person controls, expresses, and manages their emotions which plays a very important role in how they cope and respond to stress [74]

Emotional Intelligence

• type of social intelligence that involves a person's ability to monitor their own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them and to use that information to guide their thinking and actions [75]

Grit

• working strenuously towards challenged, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress [76]

Hope

• an individual’s perceived capability to develop a pathway to achieve a goal assumes future outcomes are influenced by goal-oriented cognitions [77]

Optimism

• a generalised positive outcome expectancy, positive expectations that good outcomes will happen, perceive these outcomes as attainable, and persevere in goal-oriented efforts [78]

Positive psychology

• a theoretical approach that focusses on positive individual traits, valued subjective experiences, and positive institutions; it emphasises an understanding of the processes and factors that contribute to the health, success, and flourishing of individuals [79]

Resilience

• the ability to recover from adversity and react adaptively to stressful situations and is a core component of psychological well-being [80]

Self esteem

• the extent to which a person accepts, likes, or is satisfied with themselves [81]

Self-control

• the ability to exercise restraint over behaviour to meet long-term interests [57]

Self-talk

• an intra-personal event that could be interpreted as informational or controlling and may attenuate or exacerbate the negative effects of a stressful experience [82]