Well-being and health perception of university students in Portugal: the influence of parental support and love relationship

Autor

  • Regina F. Alves University of Minho, Braga
  • José A. G. Precioso University of Minho, Braga
  • Elisardo Becoña University of Santiago de Compostela

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2020.94723

Słowa kluczowe:

higher education, happiness, life satisfaction

Abstrakt

Background
The mental health of university students has been the subject of great attention from scientific investigations, not only to provide contextualised information, but additionally since high levels of well-being predicted a quality education. This study aims to evaluate the perception of well-being and health of university students, exploring the psychometric properties of the Well-being and Health Perception Scale (WbHPS) and analysing the influence of sociodemographic variables.

Participants and procedure
A questionnaire was applied to a representative sample of 840 university students in Portugal stratified by year of academic attendance and scientific area of study. The WbHPS consists of 5 items measured on a 5-point Likert scale. We considered as explanatory variables the year of study and scientific area, sex, age, love relationship, professional situation and BMI.

Results
The WbHPS showed good psychometric properties, indicating the presence of an explanatory factor of 58.45% of variance and a good internal consistency (α = .81). The obtained results identified WbHPS as being inde-pendently associated with being in a love relationship, having a normal weight and not being displaced after starting at university.

Conclusions
It is necessary to (re)think about disease prevention and health promotion actions in higher education, with psychosocial interventions that truly reflect on the well-being and health of university students.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Bibliografia

Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2013). The relationships between subjective well-being, health, and religiosity among young adults from Qatar. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 16, 306–318. https:// doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2012.660624.

Aguayo, R., Cañadas, G., Assbaa-Kaddouri, L., Cañadas-De la Fuente, G., Ramírez-Baena, L., & Ortega-Campos, E. (2019). A risk profile of sociodemographic factors in the onset of academic burnout syndrome in a sample of university students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 707. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph16050707.

Albuquerque, A. S., & Tróccoli, B. T. (2004). Desenvolvimento de Uma Escala de Bem-Estar Subjetivo [Development of a Subjective Well-Being Scale]. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 20, 153–164. https:// doi.org/10.1590/S0102-37722004000200008.

Almeida, L. S., & Freire, T. (2008). Metodologia da investigação em psicologia e educação [Research methodology in psychology and education]. Braga: Psiquilíbrios.

American College Health Association (2018). American College Health Association – National College Health Assessment II: Undergraduate Student Reference Group Data report Fall 2018. American College Health Association. Retrieved from www. acha-ncha.org.

Andrews, F. M. (1974). Social indicators of perceived life quality. Social Indicators Research, 1, 279–299. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303860.

Arias-de la Torre, J., Fernández-Villa, T., Molina, A., Amezcua-Prieto, C., Mateos, R., Cancela, J., … & Martín, V. (2019a). Psychological distress, family support and employment status in first-year university students in Spain. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 1209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071209.

Arias-de la Torre, J., Molina, A. J., Fernández-Villa, T., Artazcoz, L., & Martín, V. (2019b). Mental health, family roles and employment status inside and outside the household in Spain. Gaceta Sanitaria, 33, 235– 241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2017.11.005.

Arias-de la Torre, J., Vilagut, G., Martín, V., Molina, A. J., & Alonso, J. (2018). Prevalence of major depressive disorder and association with personal and socio-economic factors. Results for Spain of the European Health Interview Survey 2014–2015. Journal of Affective Disorders, 239, 203–207. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.06.051.

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: a theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. https://doi. org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469.

Auerbach, R. P., Alonso, J., Axinn, W. G., Cuijpers, P., Ebert, D. D., Green, J. G., … & Bruffaerts, R. (2016). Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Psychological Medicine, 46, 2955–2970. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716001665.

Barbaglia, M. G., Ten Have, M., Dorsselaer, S., Alonso, J., & de Graaf, R. (2015). Negative socioeconomic changes and mental disorders: a longitudinal study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 69, 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2014-204184.

Bardagi, M. P., & Hutz, C. S. (2010). Satisfação de vida, comprometimento com a carreira e exploração vocacional em estudantes universitários [Undergraduate students’ life satisfaction, career commitment and career exploration]. Arquivos Brasileiros de Psicologia, 62, 159–170.

Barrantes-Brais, K., & Ureña-Bonilla, P. (2015). Bienestar psicológico y bienestar subjetivo en estudiantes universitarios costarricenses [Psychological well-being and subjective well-being in Costa Rican university students]. Revista Intercontinental de Psicología y Educación, 17, 101–123.

Beiter, R., Nash, R., McCrady, M., Rhoades, D., Linscomb, M., Clarahan, M., & Sammut, S. (2015). The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students. Journal of Affective Disorders, 173, 90–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.054.

Benotsch, E. G., Koester, S., Luckman, D., Martin, A. M., & Cejka, A. (2011). Non-medical use of prescription drugs and sexual risk behavior in young adults. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 152–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.08.027.

Bertoquini, V., & Pais-Ribeiro, J. (2006). Estudo de formas muito reduzidas do modelo dos cinco factores da personalidade [Study of very small forms of the five personality factors model]. Psychologica, 43, 193–210.

Bewick, B., Koutsopoulou, G., Miles, J., Slaa, E., & Barkham, M. (2010). Changes in undergraduate students’ psychological well‐being as they progress through university. Studies in Higher Education, 35, 633–645. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070903216643.

Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago, IL: Aldine. Bücker, S., Nuraydin, S., Simonsmeier, B. A., Schneider, M., & Luhmann, M. (2018). Subjective wellbeing and academic achievement: a meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.02.007.

Camfield, L., & Skevington, S. M. (2008). On subjective well-being and quality of life. Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 764–775. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1359105308093860.

Cantril, H. (1965) The pattern of human concerns. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Chen, W., Chen, B., Li, Q., Hua, M., Yu, S., & Feng, H. (2016). Association of mental health with physical activity, BMI, and positive psychological wellbeing in college students. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 48, 1054. https://doi.org/10.1249/01. mss.0000488173.75017.69.

Chow, H. P. H. (2005). Life satisfaction among university students in a Canadian prairie city: a multivariate analysis. Social Indicators Research, 70, 139–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-004-7526-0.

Claxton, M., Onwumere, J., & Fornells-Ambrojo, M. (2017). Do family interventions improve outcomes in early psychosis? A systematic review and metaanalysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 371. https://doi. org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00371.

Cummins, R. A., Eckersley, R., Pallant, J., van Vugt, J., & Misajon, R. (2003). Developing a National Index of Subjective Wellbeing: The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. Social Indicators Research, 64, 159–190. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024704320683.

Czyżowska, D., Gurba, E., Czyżowska, N., & Kalus, A. (2020). Intimate relationship and its significance for eudaimonic well-being in young adults. Health Psychology Report. https://doi.org/10.5114/ hpr.2020.93768.

Davidson, O. B., Feldman, D. B., & Margalit, M. (2012). A focused intervention for 1st-year college students: Promoting hope, sense of coherence, and self-efficacy. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 146, 333–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2011.634862.

Demirli, A., Türkmen, M., & Arık, R. S. (2015). Investigation of dispositional and state hope levels’ relations with student subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 120, 601–613. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11205-014-0607-9.

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.

Diener, E., Inglehart, R., & Tay, L. (2013). Theory and validity of Life Satisfaction Scales. Social Indicators Research, 112, 497–527. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s11205-012-0076-y.

Diener, E., Napa‐Scollon, C. K., Oishi, S., Dzokoto, V., & Suh, E. M. (2000). Positivity and the construction of life satisfaction judgments: Global happiness is not the sum of its parts. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1, 159–176. https://doi.org/10.1023/ A:1010031813405.

Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302. https://doi. org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276.

Eid, M., &, Larsen, R. J. (2008). The science of subjective well-being. New York: The Guilford Press. Elias, H., Ping, W. S., & Abdullah, M. C. (2011). Stress and academic achievement among undergraduate students in Universiti Putra Malaysia. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 646–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.288.

Fawzy, M., & Hamed, S. A. (2017). Prevalence of psychological stress, depression and anxiety among medical students in Egypt. Psychiatry Research, 255, 186–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.05.027.

Feldman, D. B., & Dreher, D. E. (2012). Can hope be changed in 90 minutes? Testing the efficacy of a single-session goal-pursuit intervention for college students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 745–759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9292-4.

Fernández, M. F. P., Araújo, A. M., Vacas, C. T., Almeida, L. S., & González, M. S. R. (2017). Predictors of students’ adjustment during transition to university in Spain. Psicothem, 29, 67–72. https:// doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2016.40.

Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Fordyce, M. (1977). The happiness measures: a sixty second index of emotional well-being and mental health. Retrieved from https://worlddatabaseofhappiness. eur.nl/hap_bib/freetexts/fordyce_mw_1983.pdf.

Fordyce, M. W. (1988). A review of research on the happiness measures: a sixty second index of happiness and mental health. Social Indicators Research, 20, 355–381. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302333.

Galinha, I., & Ribeiro, J. L. P. (2005). História e evolução do conceito de bem-estar subjectivo [History and evolution of the concept of subjective wellbeing]. Psicologia, Saúde & Doenças, 6, 203–214.

Hardeman, R. R., Przedworski, J. M., Burke, S. E., Burgess, D. J., Phelan, S. M., Dovidio, J. F., Nelson, D., Rockwood, T., & van Ryn, M. (2015). Mental well-being in first year medical students: a comparison by race and gender. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2, 403–413. https://doi. org/10.1007/s40615-015-0087-x.

Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073–1082. https://doi. org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00213-6.

Hingson, R. W., Zha, W., & Weitzman, E. R. (2009). Magnitude of and trends in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24, 1998-2005. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Supplement, 16, 12–20. https://doi. org/10.15288/jsads.2009.s16.12.

Huebner, E. S., Seligson, J. L., Valois, R. F., & Suldo, S. M. (2006). A review of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale. Social Indicators Research, 79, 477–484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-5395-9.

Hutz, C. (2014). Avaliação em psicologia positiva [Evaluation in positive psychology]. Porto Alegre: Artes Médicas.

Khramtsova, I., Saarnio, D. A., Gordeeva, T., & Williams, K. (2007). Happiness, life satisfaction, and depression in college students: Relations with student behaviors and attitudes. American Journal of Psychological Research, 3, 8–16.

Kovess-Masfety, V., Leray, E., Denis, L., Husky, M., Pitrou, I., & Bodeau-Livinec, F. (2016). Mental health of college students and their non-collegeattending peers: Results from a large French crosssectional survey. BMC Psychology, 4, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-016-0124-5.

Lu, L. (2000). Gender and conjugal differences in happiness. The Journal of Social Psychology, 140, 132– 141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540009600451.

Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006824100041.

Marôco, J. (2018). Análise estatística com o SPSS Statistics [Statistical analysis with SPSS Statistics]. Pêro Pinheiro: ReportNumber.

Marrero Quevedo, R. J., González Villalobos, J. Á., & Carballeira Abella, M. (2014). Relación entre bienestar subjetivo, optimismo y variables sociodemográficas en estudiantes universitarios de la Universidad de San Luis Potosí en México [Relationship between subjective welfare, optimism and demographic variables in college students of the University of San Luis Potosi in Mexico]. Universitas Psychologica, 13, 1083–1098. https://doi. org/10.11144/javeriana.upsy13-3.rbso.

Medvedev, O. N., & Landhuis, C. E. (2018). Exploring constructs of well-being, happiness and quality of life. PeerJ, 6, e4903. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4903.

Molina, A. J., Varela, V., Fernández, T., Martín, V., Ayán, C., & Cancela, J. M. (2012). Hábitos no saludables y práctica de actividad física en estudiantes universitarios Españoles: Papel del género, perfil académico y convivencia [Unhealthy habits and practice of physical activity in Spanish college students: The role of gender, academic profile and living situation]. Adicciones, 24, 319–327. https://doi. org/10.20882/adicciones.82.

Monahan, C. J., Bracken-Minor, K. L., McCausland, C. M., McDevitt-Murphy, M. E., & Murphy, J. G. (2012). Health-related quality of life among heavy-drinking college students. American Journal of Health Behavior, 36, 289–299. https:// doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.36.3.1.

Myers, D., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6, 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j. 1467-9280.1995.tb00298.x.

Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2009). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. In E. Diener (Ed.), Assessing well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (pp. 101–117). Dordrecht: Springer.

Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2015). College students: Mental health problems and treatment considerations. Academic Psychiatry, 39, 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014- 0205-9.

Ratelle, C. F., Simard, K., & Guay, F. (2013). University students’ subjective well-being: The role of autonomy support from parents, friends, and the romantic partner. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 893–910. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9360-4.

Rojas, M., & Elizondo-Lara, M. (2012). Satisfacción de vida en Costa Rica: Un enfoque de domínios de vida [Life satisfaction in Costa Rica: a life domain approach]. Latin American Research Review, 47, 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1353/lar.2012.0019.

Rotenstein, L. S., Ramos, M. A., Torre, M., Segal, J. B., Peluso, M. J., Guille, C., Sen, S., & Mata, D. A. (2016). Prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation among medical students. JAMA, 316, 2214–2236. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.17324.

Storrie, K., Ahern, K., & Tuckett, A. (2010). A systematic review: Students with mental health problems – a growing problem. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 16, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01813.x.

Stoyles, G., Chadwick, A., & Caputi, P. (2015). Purpose in life and well-being: The relationship between purpose in life, hope, coping, and inward sensitivity among first-year university students. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 17, 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2015.985558.

The WHOQOL Group (1995). The World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL): Position paper from the World Health Organization. Social Science & Medicine, 41, 1403–1409. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00112-K.

Trinh, L. T., & Khanh, H. T. T. (2019). Happy people: Who are they? A pilot indigenous study on conceptualization of happiness in Vietnam. Health Psychology Report, 7, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2019.88527.

Vankim, N. A., & Nelson, T. F. (2013). Vigorous physical activity, mental health, perceived stress, and socializing among college students. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28, 7–15. https://doi. org/10.4278/ajhp.111101-QUAN-395.

Vaz Serra, A., Canavarro, M. C., Simões, M., Pereira, M., Gameiro, S., Quartilho, M. J., Rijo, D., Carona, C., & Paredes, T. (2006). Estudos psicométricos do instrumento de avaliação da qualidade de vida da Organização Mundial de Saúde (WHOQOLBref) para Português de Portugal [Psychometric studies of the World Health Organization quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL-Bref) for Portuguese in Portugal]. Psiquiatria Clínica, 27, 41–49.

Wood, W., Rhodes, N., & Whelan, M. (1989). Sex differences in positive well-being: a consideration of emotional style and marital status. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 249–264. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.106.2.249

Opublikowane

2020-03-17

Jak cytować

Alves, R. F., Precioso, J. A. G., & Becoña, E. (2020). Well-being and health perception of university students in Portugal: the influence of parental support and love relationship. Health Psychology Report, 8(2), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2020.94723

Numer

Dział

Artykuły