2026-10-14T19:43:13Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33716161 2026-09-13T18:51:30Z category_26143 category_26149 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Digital Competence as a Personal Resource Against Technostress Among Peruvian University Faculty: A Latent-Variable Study with Age-Group Differences Julie Catherine Arbulú Castillo (24865991) Marco Arbulú (23210146) Isaac Saavedra Torres (24865994) Susy del Pilar Aguilar Castillo (24865997) Higher education Professional education and training technostress; digital competence; digital literacy; university faculty; job demands–resources; measurement invariance; multigroup analysis; Peru <p dir="ltr">Background: Hybrid models in Peruvian higher education have raised the technological demands placed on faculty. Drawing on the job demands–resources model, this study tested whether digital competence is a personal resource that reduces technostress and whether that effect varies by sex and age. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 384 Peruvian university faculty (64.3% women; mean age 47.8 years). Digital competence and technostress (RED-TEC) were modelled as latent variables with dimension-level indicators; measurement invariance and multigroup structural models were tested by sex and age group. Results: The two-factor measurement model fitted well (CFI = .980; RMSEA = .058) and was free of common-method bias. Digital competence reduced technostress (β = −.32, 95% bootstrap CI [−.47, −.20]; R² = .10) across all five manifestations, most strongly anxiety and least strongly addiction. Under partial scalar invariance the effect did not differ by sex but differed by age (Δχ²(2) = 14.77, p < .001): it was strongest among faculty aged 36–50 (β = −.59), moderate over 50 (β = −.25) and non-significant at 35 or younger. Conclusions: Digital competence protects against technostress, but mainly in mid-career faculty. Training should target that group, and institutions remain responsible for regulating technological demands.</p> 2026-09-13T18:51:30Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.33716161.v2 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Digital_Competence_as_a_Personal_Resource_Against_Technostress_Among_Peruvian_University_Faculty_A_Latent-Variable_Study_with_Age-Group_Differences/33716161 CC BY 4.0