Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T18:02:29.655Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How can Academic Context Variables Contribute to the Personal Well-Being of Higher Education Students?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2017

Célia Palma Figueira ,
Alexandra Marques-Pinto ,
Cicero Roberto Pereira  and
Magda Sofia Roberto
Célia Palma Figueira*
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
Alexandra Marques-Pinto
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
Cicero Roberto Pereira
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brazil)
Magda Sofia Roberto
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Célia Palma Figueira. Faculty of Psychology, Universidade de Lisboa. Alameda da Universidade. 1649–013. Lisboa (Portugal). Phone: +351–914071422 (voice). E-mail: cfigueira@fpie.ulisboa.pt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study analyzed the influence of perceived time pressure, role clarity, working conditions and peer social support on the personal well-being (subjective, psychological and social well-being) of higher education students, in a sample of 128 Portuguese students from the University of Lisbon. A model was proposed which predicts a negative influence of time pressure and a positive influence of role clarity, working conditions and peer social support on students’ personal well-being, throughout the academic year. Data was collected by means of a longitudinal design, at the beginning and end of the academic year, through self-report questionnaires. Structural equation models were used to analyze cross-sectional and cross-lagged relations among the variables. At cross-sectional level, results revealed a good fit to data (CFI = .928; IFI = .931; RMSEA = .060) illustrating that the perception of academic context variables was related to well-being dimensions. At longitudinal level, however, cross-lagged models did not fit so well to the data (CFI = .863; IFI = .869; RMSEA = .058) with both perceptions of time pressure (β = .167; p = .037) and role clarity (β = –.288; p = .031) significantly predicting well-being, but not in the expected direction, encouraging the accomplishment of studies to further a broader understanding of higher education students’ well-being and its predictors. Implications for higher education scholars and practitioners and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords

academic context variableacademic yearhigher education studentspersonal well-being
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 20 , 2017 , E43
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

How to cite this article:

Figueira, C. P., Marques-Pinto, A., Pereira, C. R., & Roberto, M. S. (2017). How can academic context variables contribute to the personal well-being of higher education students? The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20. eXX. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.46

References

Almeida, L. S., Soares, A. P. C., & Ferreira, J. A. (2001). Adaptação, rendimento e desenvolvimento dos estudantes no ensino superior: Construção do questionário de vivências académicas. [Adaptation, performance and development of students in higher education: Construction of the academic experiences questionnaire]. Revista Científica e Cultural da Universidade Estácio de Sá, 3, 3–20.Google Scholar
Almeida, L. S., & Cruz, J. F. (2010, February). Transição e adaptação académica: Reflexões em torno dos alunos do 1° ano da Universidade do Minho [Transition and academic adaptation: Reflections on the 1st year students of the University of Minho]. Paper presented at the Iberian Congress: Change in higher education: Tensions and possibilities. Braga, Portugal: Universidade do Minho.Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demand-resource model: The state of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115 Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., Hakanen, J., Demerouti, E., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2007). Job resources boost work engagement, particularly when job demands are high. In Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(2), 274–284. https://doi.org/10.1037%2F0022-0663.99.2.274 Google Scholar
Bakker, A. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2010). Where to go from here? Integration and future research on work engagement. In Bakker, A. B. & Leiter, M. P. (Eds.), Work engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research (pp. 181–196). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Boyd, C. M., Bakker, A. B., Pignata, S., Winefield, A. H., Gillespie, N., & Stough, C. (2011). A longitudinal test of the job demands-resources model among Australian university academics. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 60(1), 112–140. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2010.00429.x Google Scholar
Chambel, M. J., & Curral, L. (2005). Stress in academic life: Work characteristics as predictors of student well-being and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54(1), 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00200.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, E. C. (2006). Perfectionism and dimensions of psychological well-being in a college student sample: A test of a stress-mediation model. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25, 1001–1022. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2006.25.9.1001 Google Scholar
Collins, L. M. (2006). Analysis of longitudinal data: The integration of theoretical model, temporal design, and statistical model. Annual Review of Psychology, 57(1), 505–528. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190146 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., De Jonge, J., Janssen, P. P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). Burnout and engagement at work as a function of demands and control. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environment and Health, 27, 279–286. https://doi.org/10.5271%2Fsjweh.615 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demerouti, E., & Bakker, A. B. (2011). The Job Demands-Resources Model: Challenges for future research. Journal of Industrial Psychology, 37, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v37i2.974 Google Scholar
Diener, Ed., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 305–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.61.4.305 Google Scholar
Figueira, C., & Marques Pinto, A. M. (2005). Das concepções aos processos: Stress e coping nos estudantes do ensino superior [Stress and coping in students of higher education: From conceptions to processes] In Simão, A. M. V., Silva, A. L., & Sá, I. (Org.) Auto-regulação da aprendizagem: Das concepções às práticas (pp. 15–39). Lisboa, Portugal: Educa.Google Scholar
Figueira, C., Marques Pinto, A., Lima, L., Matos, A. P., & Cherpe, S. (2014). Adaptação da mental health continuum – LF for adults em estudantes universitários portugueses [Adaptation of the mental health continuum – LF for adults to portuguese college students]. Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico e Avaliação Psicológica, 38, 93–116.Google Scholar
Gallagher, M. W., Lopez, S. J., & Preacher, K. J. (2009). The hierarchical structure of well-being. Journal of Personality, 77, 1025–1050. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00573.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garello, M. V., & Rinaudo, M. C. (2012). Características de las tareas académicas que favorecen el aprendizaje autorregulado y la cognición distribuida en estudiantes universitarios [Characteristics of the academic tasks that favor self-regulated learning and distributed cognition in university students]. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 10, 415–440.Google Scholar
Hakanen, J. J., Schaufeli, W. B., & Ahola, K. (2008). The job demands-resources model: A three-year cross-lagged study of burnout, depression, commitment, and work engagement. Work & Stress, 22, 224–241. https://doi.org/10.1080%2F02678370802379432 Google Scholar
Karasek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy work stress, productivity and the reconstruction of working life. New York, NY: Free Press.Google Scholar
Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 1007–1022. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007 Google Scholar
Keyes, C. L. M., & Waterman, M. B. (2003). Dimensions of well-being and mental health in adulthood. In Bornstein, M. H., Davidson, L., Keyes, C. L. M., & Moore, K. A. (Eds.), Well-being: Positive development across the life course (pp. 477–497). New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum.Google Scholar
Keyes, C. L. M. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health. American Psychologist, 62, 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1037%2F0003-066X.62.2.95 Google Scholar
Lent, R. W., Singley, D., Sheu, H., Gainor, K. A., Brenner, B. R., Treistman, D., & Ades, L. (2005). Social cognitive predictors of domain and life satisfaction: Exploring the theoretical precursors of subjective well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 429–442. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.3.429 Google Scholar
Llorens, S., Bakker, A., Schaufeli, W., & Salanova, M. (2006). Testing the robustness of the job demands–resources model. In International Journal of Stress Management, 13, 378–391. https://doi.org/10.1037//1072-5245.13.3.378 Google Scholar
Ouweneel, E., Le Blanc, P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2011). Flourishing students: A longitudinal study on positive emotions, personal resources, and study engagement. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.558847 Google Scholar
Robitschek, C., & Keyes, C. L. M. (2009). The structure of Keyes’ model of mental health and the role of personal growth initiative as a parsimonious predictor. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 321–329. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013954 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166. https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.psych.52.1.141 Google Scholar
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081. https://doi.org/10.1037%2F%2F0022-3514.57.6.1069 Google Scholar
Saich, G. (2008). Explicit first year support through university student mentoring. The International Journal of Learning, 15, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v15i10/45977 Google Scholar
Salanova, M., Schaufeli, W., Martínez, I., & Bresó, E. (2010). How obstacles and facilitators predict academic performance: The mediating role of study burnout and engagement. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 23(1), 53–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800802609965 Google Scholar
Sax, L. J., Bryant, A. N., & Gilmartin, S. K. (2002, November). A longitudinal investigation of emotional health among first-year college students: Comparisons of women and men. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of association for the Study of Higher Education, Sacramento, CA.Google Scholar
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fjob.248 Google Scholar
Simão, A. M. V., Flores, M. A., Fernandes, S., & Figueira, C. (2008). Tutoria no ensino superior [Tutoring in higher education]. Sísifo - Revista de Ciências da Educação, 7, 75–88.Google Scholar
The European Higher Education Area. (1999). Tratado de Bolonha [Bologna Process]. Paris, France, Author. Retrieved from http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/documents/MDC/BOLOGNA_DECLARATION1.pdf Google Scholar
Van Horn, J. E., Taris, T. W., Schaufeli, W. B., & Schreurs, P. J. G. (2004). The structure of occupational well-being. A study among Dutch teachers. In Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1348%2F0963179041752718 Google Scholar
Wann, D. L., & Weaver, S. (2009). Understanding the relationship between sport team Identification and dimensions of social well-being. North American Journal of Psychology, 11, 219–230.Google Scholar
Weare, K. (2010). Promoting mental health through schools. In Aggleton, P., Dennison, C., & Warwick, I. (Eds), Promoting health and well-being through schools. (pp. 24–39). Oxon, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar