Sense of Coherence and Subjective Well-Being among Adolescents – The Potential Impact of Living in a Dormitory Compared to Living with Family

Abstract

SUMMARY The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between the sense of coherence (SOC) and subjective well-being (SWB) as a health promoting resource among adolescents living with parents and those living in dormitories. There were 442 adolescent responders, yielding a response rate of 84.3%. The SOC was measured using the Orientation to Life Questionnaire, while SWB was obtained from the Personal Wellbeing Index. There were no significant differences between the group living with parents and the group living in dormitories in SOC (128.3 and 129.4, respectively; p=0.580) and SWB (78.0 and 78.9, respectively; p=0.537). A significant difference was found between the genders. Boys had a higher SOC, both those living with parents (131.7 and 124.9, respectively; p=0.014) and those living in dormitories (136.5 and 124.5, respectively; p=0.001), and a higher SWB when living in dormitories (83.4 and 75.8, respectively; p=0.001). Adolescents with better socioeconomic status had a significantly higher SWB if living with parents (76.7 and 85.5, respectively; p=0.003), whereas no difference was found in the dormitory group (78.5 vs . 83.4; p=0.241). The SOC was strongly and positively associated with SWB (correlation coefficient 0.63; p=0.001) and was a key predictor of adolescent SWB (R 2 =0.373). These findings may prove helpful in future planning and supportive work in schools and dormitories to improve student health.

Effects of Gender and Age Interaction on Sense of Coherence and Subjective Well-Being of Senior High School Students in Northern Ghana

“…The implementation of these interventions may largely be responsible for building a high SoC capacities among females in Northern Ghana, hence the finding of the current study. Contrary results have been found in some studies that males have higher SoC than females [26,50,51]. Other research evidence has also reported no differences in SoC across genders [34,54,56,57].…”

“…Several reports have shown female experience SWB better than male students in Spain [23] and Norway [24]. Contrary results have been found in Italy [25], Croatia [26], Norway [27,28], China [29], and Nigeria [30]. Others reported no gender differences in Hungary [22], Turkey [31], and Israel [32].…”

“…Related findings on SoC and SWB were reported in Croatia [26,58], Norway [24,27,51], Turkey [59], and Poland [60,61]. Extant researchers have also produced inconsistent findings.…”

“…Evidence on gender and age differences in SoC among students is split dichotomously [24,[49][50][51][52]. For example, Matić and Jureša [26] found higher SoC among male students than females in Croatia. Conversely, Mayer et al [49] found higher SoC in favour of female students in China and Germany.…”

Feeling of Meaningfulness and Anxiety of Taekwon-Do Fighters in a Salutogenic Notion

“…This is directly connected with the understanding of the justified ties between the situations or events and personal action, which we shall describe here as the feeling of meaningfulness. It fulfils a significant role in shaping the relations between a situation, stress (including anxiety), an individual response, and the adjustable mechanisms of the entity [ 2 ]; simultaneously, this notion is consistent with the concept of the intricate approach to the issue of a healthy lifestyle [ 3 ] and is treated as one of the predictors of mental health [ 4 , 5 ].…”