Chongjin Wang, Iftikhar Ahmed Charan, Shazia Soomro
ABSTRACT Background Academic stress significantly affects students’ well‐being and academic performance. This study addresses this gap by exploring how academic self‐efficacy mediates the relationship between academic stress and both educational and psychological distress while considering cognitive and prosocial behaviors. Methods This study surveyed 412 participants (mean age 22–25 years; 55.1% male, 44.9% female). Descriptive analysis and regression found factors that predict prosocial behavior, and a moderated‐mediation model looked at how academic self‐efficacy affects the link between academic stress and prosocial behavior, with psychological distress and cognitive behavior acting as middle factors. Results The mean academic stress score was 3.42 (SD = 0.81), and the mean academic self‐efficacy score was 3.91 (SD = 0.65). Academic stress was negatively correlated with both academic self‐efficacy ( r = −0.36, p < 0.01) and prosocial behavior ( r = −0.29, p < 0.01). Academic self‐efficacy positively predicted prosocial behavior ( b = 0.35, p = 0.001), while academic stress negatively predicted it ( b = −0.18, p = 0.011). Moderated‐mediation analysis revealed that academic self‐efficacy moderated the relationship between academic stress and prosocial behavior ( b = −0.19, p = 0.001). The model explained 60% of the variance in prosocial behavior ( R 2 = 0.60, p = 0.001). Conclusion This study found that academic stress negatively affects prosocial behavior, while academic self‐efficacy positively predicts it. Self‐efficacy also moderated the impact of stress, suggesting its protective role. The model explained a significant portion of the variance in prosocial behavior, highlighting the importance of enhancing self‐efficacy to mitigate academic stress.