Positive Mental Health in University Students and Its Relations with Psychological Vulnerability, Mental Health Literacy, and Sociodemographic Characteristics: A Descriptive Correlational Study

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate positive mental health (PMH) and its relation with sociodemographic characteristics, mental health literacy, and the psychological vulnerability scale (PVS) in Portuguese university students aged 17 to 62. A descriptive correlational study was carried out. An online survey was conducted to evaluate demographic variables, and several questionnaires were applied to evaluate positive mental health, psychological vulnerability, and mental health literacy. The data was collected from 1 November 2019 to 1 September 2020. Overall, 3405 students participated in the study. The results show that 67.8% of students revealed a high level of PMH, 31.6% presented a medium level of PMH, and 0.6% had a low level of PMH. Male students reported higher personal satisfaction (t (3170) = −2.39, p = 0.017) and autonomy (t (3170) = −3.33, p = 0.001) in PMH compared to female students. Students without a scholarship scored higher (t (3127) = −2.04, p = 0.42) in PMH than students who held a scholarship. Students who were not displaced from their home reported higher (t (3170) = −1.99, p = 0.047) self-control in PMH than those displaced from their home. University students with higher PMH results had lower PVS results and higher literacy results. The findings of this study will contribute to identifying students’ PMH intervention needs.

Mental Health Literacy and Positive Mental Health in Adolescents: A Correlational Study

“…The results obtained indicate a high level of PMH of the adolescents in our sample, positioning them in the flourishing state. These results are higher than those of the study by Alves [35], with adolescents in the third cycle of basic education (7th to 9th years of school), and the study by Sequeira et al [26], with nursing university students, that obtained intermediate levels of PMH, but they are in line with the results of Garcia s study [36] and the Teixeira et al study [37]. In our study sample and by considering the various and rapid physical, psychological, and social changes that occur at this stage of the life cycle, we obtained a higher level of PMH than we expected.…”

“…In this regard, it is worth noting the significant and positive relationship between knowledge about obtaining and maintaining good mental health and all the PMH factors, confirming the research team s expectations. As the present study was the first to correlate MHL and PMH among adolescents, our results cannot be compared with other studies, although we can mention that our results are in line with those obtained in the recently published study by Teixeira et al [37] among University students. The finding of this relationship provides a huge motivation for implementing interventions that improve adolescents' MHL levels to simultaneously obtain high levels of PMH in adolescents.…”

Authentic Leadership on Employee Coping and Its Impact on Psychological Vulnerable: Survey on Public Organization in Bandung, Indonesia

“…Shoss (2017) mentioned that psychological vulnerability is the avoidance of experience as a barrier or hindrance to getting pleasure and meaning in life and is predicted to lead to more valuable individual behavior. Teixeira et al, (2022) proved both individuals and groups in a social environment need to get support due to psychological vulnerabilities caused by uncertain and unprecedented situations. Monroe, Anderson & Harkness (2019) showed the support that will be implemented requires mental, social, and economic handling to overcome or reduce their negative behavior due to the crisis.…”

Association of Social Support and Mental Health Literacy with Quality of Life among University Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…In Malaysia, Gan and Yuen Ling (2019) note that students with symptoms of excessive anxiety are more likely to have lower scores in the psychological, social and environmental domains; in other words, the quality of their life is likely to be adversely affected. One way to resolve mental health problems is by promoting mental health literacy (Teixeira et al, 2022;Lee et al, 2020;Bjørnsen et al, 2019) so that steps can be taken by the individuals themselves to overcome depression should the symptoms emerge. According to Lam (2014), individuals with low or deficient levels of MHL tend to have poorer mental health outcomes and an increased risk of developing mental health disorders.…”