La littérature met en évidence l’importance des stratégies de coping et du sentiment d’efficacité dans les performances académiques et la détresse des étudiants. La perspective temporelle (PT) pourrait influencer le fonctionnement adaptatif des individus ainsi que les croyances en leurs capacités. Afin d’étudier les liens entre PT, sentiment d’efficacité et coping, 362 étudiants en première année ont répondu à des auto-questionnaires évaluant ces trois variables. Les résultats montrent que le passé négatif et le présent fataliste sont associés négativement au sentiment d’efficacité et positivement à un coping non-adaptatif. Inversement, le passé positif et le futur sont associés positivement au sentiment d’efficacité et à des stratégies de coping adaptatives. Les résultats mettent en évidence un effet de médiation du sentiment d’efficacité dans la relation entre PT et coping. Ces résultats soulignent le rôle du profil temporel des étudiants dans leur fonctionnement adaptatif. Les perspectives de recherche et de prévention sont discutées.Literature data suggest coping strategies and self-efficacy have a significant influence on academic success and distress among students. It is then crucial to investigate the psychological variables involved in coping and self-efficacy among students. In fact, time perspective (TP), which can be described as an individual's attitude toward personal past, present and future, influences one's thoughts and behaviors, and could play a role in adaptive behavior and the sense of capability. However, the impact of TP on coping and self-efficacy among students has rarely been studied. To our knowledge, these interactions have never been investigated among students during their first year in college, which appears particularity relevant given its high academic failure rate. Moreover, self-efficacy and coping has always been studied independently in studies investigating TP; although we know self-efficacy can be considered as an interactional variable impacting coping. Consequently, we set out to explore the relationship between time perspective, coping and self-efficacy among first year undergraduate French students.Three hundred and sixty-two first year undergraduate students (77.35% females, mean age = 19) completed self-reported questionnaires assessing coping (Brief Cope), self-efficacy (GSE) and time perspective (ZTPI). Statistical analyses include: (1) regression analysis in order to investigate the predictive power of TP on coping strategy and self-efficacy, and (2) mediation analysis in order to investigate the mediation effect of self-efficacy in the relationship between TP and coping.Analysis revealed that negative past and fatalistic present are negatively correlated with self-efficacy and adaptive coping strategy, and positively correlated with maladaptive coping strategies such as disengagement. Inversely, positive past and future orientation are positively associated with self-efficacy and adaptive coping strategies such as active coping, positive thinking or social support-focused coping. Hedonistic present yielded more ambiguous results, as it appeared positively associated with self-efficacy, social support-focused coping and positive thinking, but also with substance use. Mediation analysis revealed that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between negative past and three coping strategies (problem solving, avoidance, cognitive restructuration), and mediates the relationship between future orientation and problem solving.This study has some limitations: the sample is mostly female, and the lack of longitudinal or experimental design prevent from drawing conclusions concerning the predictive effect of TP. However, results highlight the importance of TP when considering adaptive behavior and self-efficacy among students, especially during their first year in college that is very demanding in terms of adaptation. Perspectives for further studies and prevention applications will be discussed, in terms of using TP as a potential tool to identify profiles of students at risk of non-adjustment in an academic context.