PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AND ITS EFFECT ON PERCEIVED STRESS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PROCESS

Abstract

The aim of this study is to find out psychological well-being and perceived stress states of university students during the coronavirus process and to research the effects of psychological well-being on perceived stress. “Psychological well-being” and “perceived stress” scales filled in by 659 university students were evaluated. Independent t test, one way ANOVA and LSD tests were used in statistical analysis. Psychological well-being states of the participants were found to be statistically different in terms of gender (p<0.05). Female students were found to have lower well-being scores. Conversely, no significant difference was found in perceived stress scores in terms of gender (p>0.05). Statistically significant difference was found between well-being scores in terms of perceived immunity (p<0.05). Psychological well-being scores were found to increase as the state of believing in the strength of immunity increased. The lowest well-being scores were found in the participants who perceived their immunity weak. Perceived stress scores were also found to differ significantly in terms of perceived immunity (p<0.05). Perceived stress scores of the participants who perceived their immunity strong were found to be significantly lower than those of the participants who perceived their immunity weak. In addition, well-being and perceived stress scores of students were found to differ significantly in terms of sleep pattern during the pandemic (p<0.05). The students who stated that there were no changes in sleep pattern were found to have the highest psychological well-being scores. Psychological well-being scores of students who slept between 7 and 9 hours were found to be significantly higher and their perceived stress scores were found to be significantly lower than the students who slept 6 hours or less and those who slept 10 hours or more (p<0.05). It can be said that good sleep patterns and sleeping between 7 and 9 hours increased students’ psychological well-being and decreased their perceived stress. It was found that while psychological well-being of university students differed in terms of gender, perceived immunity and sleep pattern, their perceived stress did not differ in terms of gender. It was found that students’ perceived stress differed in terms of perceived immunity and sleep duration of students. It was found that psychological well-being explained 0.9% (R2= 0,009) of the variation on perceived stress. It is recommended to reduce the perceived stress of university students by increasing their psychological well-being. It is also recommended to increase students’ level of believing in their immunity and to ensure that they sleep regularly and sufficiently.