Predictors of psychological well-being in higher education students

The psychological well-being of higher education students is an important positive correlate of personal development and academic success. Enter in a higher education configures a period of multiple transitions that create stress and a demanding adjustment. In Portugal little is known about predictive relationships between biopsychosocial variables and psychological well-being in higher education students. Identifying predictors of psychological well-being is relevant to identify variables with positive influence in the academic context. Objective. To identify predictors of psychological well-being in Higher Education Students. Methodology. Using an exploratory, transversal and correlational study in a nonprobabilistic 560-sample Students (446 women; an average of 19.6 years) from the 1st and 2nd year, of the Lisbon District. Participants’ informed consent was obtained, and data analysis was quantitative, using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques. An online self-report questionnaire covering variables and measures: demographic and relational; academic; health behaviors; Mental Health Inventory; Satisfaction with Social Support Scale; and Satisfaction with Academic Life Scale were used. Results indicate that the male students, dating, good academic performance, exercise/sport, sleep seven hours, satisfaction with social support and satisfaction with academic life are significant predictors (p< .05) of psychological well-being, the last two with strong preponderance. Conclusions point at the relevance of the predictors of psychological well-being identified, that appear to be robust protective factors for higher education student’s mental health. Clinical Relevance: Protective factors should be considered to complement prior information to assist mental health nurses and educators to design specific welfare promotion programs, to increase the potential of mental health and academic success.