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

Kamila Litwic-Kaminska (), Aleksandra Błachnio, Izabela Kapsa, Łukasz Brzeziński, Jakub Kopowski, Milica Stojković, Darko Hinić, Ivana Krsmanović, Benedetta Ragni, Francesco Sulla and Pierpaolo Limone
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Kamila Litwic-Kaminska: Faculty of Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-867 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Aleksandra Błachnio: Faculty of Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-867 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Izabela Kapsa: Faculty of Political Science and Administration, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-671 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Łukasz Brzeziński: Faculty of Pedagogy, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Jakub Kopowski: Faculty of Computer Science, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Milica Stojković: Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
Darko Hinić: Department of Psychology, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
Ivana Krsmanović: Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
Benedetta Ragni: Department of Humanistic Studies, Learning Science Hub, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
Francesco Sulla: Department of Humanistic Studies, Learning Science Hub, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
Pierpaolo Limone: Department of Humanistic Studies, Learning Science Hub, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: resilience; positivity; stress; university students; COVID-19 pandemic; mental health; academic concern (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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