Abstract
It is important to consider university settings as sustainable environments that promote student well-being. Our aim in this study was to determine how the variables of engagement, emotional intelligence, sense of coherence, and coping influence the health of students at a Spanish university. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The instruments of measures administered were: The General Health Questionnaire, Trait Meta-Mood Scale, Uterch Work Engagement Scale, sense of coherence and brief coping scale to 463 students. The results showed that better-perceived health was associated with higher scores for dedication, vigor, clarity, repair, sense of coherence, active coping, positive reframing, and humor. Conversely, poorer perceived health was associated with higher scores for attention, instrumental support, self-distraction, venting, religion, denial, self-blaming, emotional support, and behavioral disengagement. In addition, the variables analyzed presented differences by sex. Our proposed predictive model of health and the associations between variables indicate the need to cultivate emotional skills, such as mood repair, a sense of coherence, and coping strategies, in order to promote student health. Facilitating students’ acquisition of knowledge and resources by analyzing these and other variables can contribute to individual well-being and help university students to cope with present and future academic challenges.
Highlights
Learning environments are increasingly viewed as settings with the capacity to promote students’ all-round development
The stress associated with being a student can influence factors such as class attendance, examinations, performance of compulsory tasks, time stress, and work overload [6,7,8], as well as the ability to cope with situations that arise in health settings during clinical placements [9]
The results show that health measured using the GHQ-12 was associated negatively and weakly with the engagement dimensions of dedication (r = −0.148) and vigor (r = −0.183), the TMMS-24 dimensions of clarity (r = −0.227) and repair (p = −0.350), sense of coherence (SOC) (r = −0.496), and the COPE-28 dimensions of active coping (r = −0.122), positive reframing (r = −0.175) and humor (r = −0.154)
Summary
Learning environments are increasingly viewed as settings with the capacity to promote students’ all-round development. This has prompted a renewed interest in positive psychology and its application to the field of education [1,2]. The stress associated with being a student can influence factors such as class attendance, examinations, performance of compulsory tasks, time stress, and work overload [6,7,8], as well as the ability to cope with situations that arise in health settings during clinical placements [9]. The use of appropriate coping strategies can reduce students’ stress levels and improve their quality of life [10], exerting a positive influence on their health. It is essential to develop good coping strategies while at university because these will help when facing subsequent challenges related to work and occupational stress [12]
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