IMPACT OF COVID 19 LOCKDOWN IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING AMONG STUDENTS IN POLYTECHNIC OF SANTAREM AND LEIRIA

Abstract Background: The social restraints during the COVID-19 mandatory lockdown led young and undergraduate adults to live remarkable changes in their daily lives, challenging the feeling of loneliness and their own perception of social isolation. This study aimed to assess and compare the levels of psychological well-being among students from both Santarém and Leiria Polytechnic Institutes. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional correlational study was performed in the period immediately after the first lockdown. Participants were 775 students (females = 73.5%), aged between 17 and 55 years. All of them completed measures of the Psychological Well-Being Manifestation Scale (PWBMS; or EMMBEP, in the Portuguese version, by Monteiro, Tavares e Pereira, 2012) measuring six dimensions, components of the eudaimonic model of well-being. Collected data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows software, Version 27.0. Results: The results obtained revealed differences in quality in the scores of the six measured dimensions. If subjective experiences on Mental Balance and Sociability are the best indicators of well-being, the perception of the lack of Social Involvement and low Happiness appears to be limitative factors to the perceived well-being. We also found significant differences in terms of polytechnic institute attended, gender, age categories, and marital status. Conclusion: The obtained results provide the basis to design and develop a targeted intervention main program focused on the empowerment of higher education students. Build a literacy program with health education strategies, starting from their own perceptions and responses to the experienced situations, allows their easy engagement in the promotion of psychological well-being.