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Article History

Received: 15 December 2023

Accepted: 9 November 2024

First Online: 22 November 2024

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This study was deemed low-risk and non-clinical, as it did not involve sensitive personal data from participants. Consequently, specific ethics committee approval was not required. Instead, the Vice-Rectorate of Academics at the Instituto Tecnológico de Durango, and the School of Engineering and Sciences from the Tecnológico de Monterrey thoroughly reviewed the research protocol, verifying that it adhered to the necessary ethical guidelines. The study strictly complied with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki regarding ethical principles for research involving human subjects and followed the ethical standards established by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Psychological Society (DGP). The oversight ensured that all ethical principles were observed despite the exemption from formal committee approval.

: Prior to participation, all adult students provided informed consent electronically via Qualtrics at the start of the survey during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters. They were informed about the study’s purpose, the voluntary nature of their participation, and assured that their responses would remain confidential and used solely for academic and scientific purposes. Participants were also notified that their decision to participate would not affect their grades or academic standing, and no incentives were offered.