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

Sónia Teixeira,Teresa Lluch Canut,Regina Pires,Carme Ferré-Grau,Carolina Sequeira,Teresa Rodrigues,José Carlos Carvalho,Carlos Alberto Sequeira,Francisco Sampaio,Isilda Ribeiro,Tiago Costa

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063185

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.

Highlights

The prevalence of positive mental health in Chinese adolescents has been explored and reported as higher than the results found in most previous studies [9]
Our results are in agreement with a study conducted with Portuguese and Spanish nursing students, in which 41.1% of the participants reported a good level of positive mental health (PMH), 58.4% a moderate level, and only 0.5% indicated a low level [14]
Our findings showed no significant differences in the levels of the “PMH Global”

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the notion that mental health is as important as physical health and that both are often empirically related. Countries worldwide should disclose factual data and information on mental health to politicians and the general public, allowing the implementation of measures that promote positive mental health and contribute to lowering the rates of mental disorders and subsequent social burdens [1]. Despite not being widely adopted, the term positive mental health was first designated by Marie Jahoda in 1958 [2]. It considers health promotion as an important aspect of society and the dynamic life cycle of its citizens; that is, society needs to keep healthy and

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Discussion

Conclusion