The beginning of university life can be a stressful event for students. The close social relationships that they can experience can have positive effects on their well-being. The objective of this paper is to estimate the effect of perceived social support on the changes of the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being of Chilean university students during the transition from the first to the second academic year. Overall, 205 students participated (63.90% men and 36.09% women) with an average age of 19.14 years (SD = 1.73), evaluated during their first academic year (2017) and the succeeding one (2018). For the evaluation of perceived social support, the Spanish version of the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire “MSPSS” was used, and PERMA-profiler was used to measure hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Changes through the time of hedonic well-being and social support and the correlations between the variables were analyzed. Changes in the perception of social support were analyzed according to four categories of hedonic well-being. The prediction of social support for eudaimonic well-being was evaluated. Results indicated that the perception of students’ social support did not change over time. Statistically significant differences were found in hedonic well-being scores in the two measurements, being significantly higher in the first measurement than in the second one. More than 50% of the participants presented a positive balance of affections. The perception of social support is associated with the two types of well-being. Students who had a high balance of affections had a greater perception of general social support than the groups of positive evolution of affections and a low balance of affections. In the case of the friends and family support dimensions, the perception in the high-balance group of affections concerning the low-scale group is greater. Improving the perception of social support increases the eudaimonic well-being of university students. The perception of support that students had during the beginning of their university life benefits their general well-being, which contributes to their mental health.

INTRODUCCIÓN. En términos de salud mental, los estudiantes universitarios son considerados como población vulnerable. Frente a los acontecimientos vividos debido a la pandemia por la COVID-19 y a las medidas establecidas por los gobiernos para hacer frente a esta situación, la salud mental de los estudiantes universitarios se encuentra amenazada. Desde el marco de la responsabilidad social, las universidades podrían ser lugares apropiados para abordar explícita e implícitamente las necesidades de salud y bienestar de los estudiantes. OBJETIVO. Aportar algunas consideraciones institucionales sobre la salud mental en estudiantes universitarios durante la pandemia por COVID-19. MÉTODO. Este trabajo corresponde a un diseño documental. Se relatan estudios sobre salud mental en universitarios y se reflexiona sobre los posibles aportes de las universidades desde el marco de la Responsabilidad Social. CONCLUSIÓN. Los estudios encontrados reportan incrementos en síntomas de depresión, ansiedad, estrés postraumático, ideación suicida y problemas de sueño. Las acciones que puedan realizar las universidades en beneficio de la salud mental de sus estudiantes durante y pos-pandemia podrían prevenir los efectos psicológicos de la COVID-19 y beneficiar el desarrollo de la sociedad.

Students’ mental health have a greatest impact on wellbeing and academic performance, also is often affected adaptation to the university life. This study examines the proportion of students with a positive and negative affect balance, and the relationship between affective wellbeing and academic self‐efficacy and performance. It also analyzes how psychological wellbeing and academic self‐efficacy predict affective wellbeing and academic performance. In a sample of 200 undergraduate students (M = 19.07 years), it was found that positive affect decreased and negative affect increased during the second academic year. The majority had a positive affect balance (AB). Psychological wellbeing predicts positive emotions and its achievement dimension predicts academic performance. 53% of participating students maintained a positive AB, 14% maintained a negative AB and 21% went from a negative to a positive AB one. The change from a positive to a negative AB (10%) is associated with an increase in psychological wellbeing, suggesting a process of post‐stress growth in relation to the challenges of university life.

Due to COVID-19, university students continued their academic training remotely. To assess the effects of emergency remote teaching (ERT), we evaluated the expectations and, subsequently, the experiences of university students about online education. This study employed a simple prospective design as its method. We assessed the expectations of 1,904 students from different discipline areas (1,106 women and 798 men; age M = 21.56; SD = 3.07) during the beginning of the first semester, March 2020 (T1), and their experiences at the end of the same academic period, September 2020 (T2). We used convenience non-probability sampling. Participants responded to the questionnaire on Expectations toward virtual education in higher education for students and the questionnaire on virtual education experiences in higher education. The results showed that students’ responses reflected low expectations regarding peer relationships and comparison with face-to-face education (T1). This perception was maintained during the evaluation of experiences (T2). Students reported positive experiences regarding online teaching and learning, online assessment, and their self-efficacy beliefs at T2. Statistically significant differences between measurements were found, with the expertise presenting higher averages than expectations. Furthermore, differences by gender were identified, reporting a positive change in the scores of women. In addition, results reflected differences according to the disciplinary area, showing Social Sciences and Medical and Health Sciences students a more significant size effect. Findings regarding the empirical evidence and the implications for future teaching scenarios in Higher Education are discussed.

El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar las diferencias entre apoyo social percibido, sexo y área del conocimiento sobre el rendimiento académico autopercibido. Participaron 1931 estudiantes de primer y segundo año de universidades chilenas (55.04% mujeres), con edades entre 17 y 25 años. Se utilizó un cuestionario sociodemográfico y el Cuestionario de Apoyo Social Percibido. Para analizar los datos se realizó un ANOVA factorial inter-sujetos. Se encontró un efecto de interacción estadísticamente significativo del área de conocimiento y apoyo social en el rendimiento académico. La familia predominó como fuente de apoyo social. Existe diferencia por sexo en las variables estudiadas. La percepción de rendimiento académico para las mujeres y hombres fue menor en Ingeniería. Se concluye que el rendimiento académico presenta diferencias en función del apoyo social percibido, el sexo y el área donde pertenece la carrera.