Assessing well-being of university students and evaluation of its determinants

Abstract

Background:Well-being as well as stress and anxiety get more attention today especially in case of university students; the beginning of university life is an important period of transition from adolescence to young adulthood, which brings many challenges and difficulties for the student due to the general stressors. The aim of our study was to examine the well-being of students studying at the three (non-medical) faculties of Semmelweis University Budapest and to analyse the relationships between well-being, stress, emotional support, sleep patterns, sport and further variables like smoking, consumption of sleeping pills, sedatives, energy drinks and exam anxiety. Methods: Our survey was a non-interventional, cross-sectional study. In our questionnaire we asked questions about academic performance in the form of average grade of the previous term, physical activity/ sports, sleep patterns, medication use, alcohol and energy drink consumption habits. Our questionnaire asked students also about the level of anxiety they experience during exams, two internationally recognised instruments were applied, the WHO-5 Well-Being Index and the Perceived Stress Scale. Results:the mean WHO-5 well-being index was 42.62+20.51 on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. We saw an inverse correlation between student well-being, years of study. The average anxiety level regarding oral exam, assessments was 7.63+SD=2.04, while the mean level was lower concerning written exams and assessments 5.74+SD=2.09. The result of a linear regression model indicates that the best level of explaining power by the regression model was with following variables combination: grade average + anxiety before written exam + academic year + stress. Conclusion: Our data indicate that some students have poor or very poor well-being, which fluctuates over the study period. The worst state was found in the first and final academic year. The students’ well-being level is positively correlated with emotional support, physical activity and quality of sleep and correlates negatively with anxiety before exams. Our results suggest that the well-being could be improved when universities play an active role, supporting influential activities and offering help regarding coping with stress, like stress management, as well as by providing information on learning methods and techniques.