Life Skills of Physical Education University Students: Identification of Needs – Implications for Educational Practice

Abstract

Background: Modern education should be strongly oriented towards equipping young people with the skills needed to maintain psychosocial well-being, defined as life skills. The aim of this study was to present the self-assessment of selected life skills of physical education (PE) students, analyze variables differentiating the self-assessment of those skills in the test group, and verify the correlation between the degree of self-assessment of life skills and the subjective assessment of mental well-being. Methods: This study was based on a sample of 494 individuals studying PE in Poland. The diagnostic survey method was used. Results: The skills of coping with and managing stress were assessed as the lowest. Sex, study mode, level of study, and employment while studying were the variables differentiating the self-assessment of life skills among the academic youth. Correlation analysis showed that better mental well-being correlates with higher self-assessment of skills, especially for positive thinking (p 0.001; rs = 0.51) and building a positive self-image (p 0.001; rs = 0.45). Conclusions: The hypothesis that a higher level of life skills in PE students was associated with a better self-assessment of well-being was confirmed. The obtained results may be useful in the preparation of future curricula and intervention programs at universities educating physical education teachers.