Resilience, Positivity and Social Support as Perceived Stress Predictors among University Students

Bibliographic Data

ID15514040
AuthorsKamila Litwic-Kamińska (0000-0003-4697-5412, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, corresponding author), Aleksandra Błachnio (0000-0003-0756-7416, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz), Izabela Kapsa (0000-0003-2342-3682, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz), Łukasz Brzeziński (0000-0002-0804-3828, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz), Jakub Kopowski (0000-0002-5160-1776, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz), Milica Stojković (0009-0009-5363-4537, University of Kragujevac), Darko Hinić (0000-0002-9922-6477, University of Kragujevac), Ivana Krsmanović (0000-0003-4793-628X, University of Kragujevac), Benedetta Ragni (0000-0003-0565-0662, University of Foggia), Francesco Sulla (0000-0002-0871-4943, University of Foggia), Pierpaolo Limone (0000-0003-3852-4005, University of Foggia)
Year2023
Volume20
Issue19
Pages6892-6892
Publication date2023-10-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph20196892
PMID37835162
OpenAlexW4387459792
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited45

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have been trying to identify which personal resources can contribute to minimizing the mental health costs in students incurred due to the restrictions that disrupted safety and predictability in their academic lives. The aim of the study was to verify if and how individual factors (resilience and positivity) and socio-environmental factors (social support and nationality) allow prediction of the level of perceived stress. University students ( n = 559) from Poland, Serbia, and Italy were surveyed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), the Positivity Scale (PS), and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12). Personal resources-positivity, resilience, and support-were found to be positively interrelated and significantly associated with stress levels. Additionally, gender and nationality differentiated stress levels. A general linear model (GLM) showed that levels of perceived stress are best explained by resilience, positivity, tangible support, and gender. The results obtained can strengthen students' awareness of personal resources and their protective role in maintaining mental health, as well as contribute to the creation of prevention-oriented educational activities. Nationality was not a significant predictor of the level of perceived stress, which highlights the universality of examined predictors among university students from different countries and suggests that interventions aimed at enhancing these resources could benefit students across different cultural contexts

Psychological resilience · Resilience (materials science · Social support · Stress (linguistics · Clinical Psychology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology