The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital Between Academic Stress and Well-Being Among University Students

Abstract

In the current study, we investigated the relationships among academic stress, psychological capital (PsyCap), and well-being and the effect of the demographic variables of gender, majors, and academic years on academic stress and PsyCap. We used the structural equation model to investigate the mediating role of PsyCap between academic stress and well-being. The participants (N = 827) included students from a midsized university in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (636 females, 191 males) who comprised 450 science and 377 humanities majors from all academic years. To collect data, we utilized the Academic Stress Inventory, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Questionnaire. The structural equation model analysis results revealed that PsyCap was a full mediator between academic stress and wellbeing. Gender did not affect on PsyCap or academic stress. In addition, the academic majors affected PsyCap: Students in the humanities majors had better PsyCap than those in the science majors. Furthermore, the academic years affected academic stress; specifically, academic stress decreased as students progressed through their academic years. Therefore, science majors in their first academic year were the most in need of a PsyCap-based intervention.

Relationship between psychological capital and mental health at higher education: Role of perceived social support as a mediator

“…It has been mentioned that PsyCap has a significant relationship with MH [ 35 , 43 ]. PsyCap, as a buffering factor against student stress, indicates that it reduces the association between stress and adverse consequences among students [ 44 ]. A study [ 45 ] discovered connections between PsyCap and the MH status of students, suggesting that higher levels of PsyCap were positively connected with improved MH.…”

Adaptation and Validation of the Academic Stress Scale in the Italian Context: Latent Structure, Reliability, and Concurrent Validity

“…In the academic context, general and specific indices of student well-being can play a key role in counteracting the negative effects of stress, acting as protective factors both for the development of stress (general and academic) and for the coping/adaptation to stress itself [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Indeed, despite the presence of possible risk factors for the development of stress in the academic environment, not all students experience its potential negative impact.…”

Development and validation of the educational psychological capital scale

“…Besides that, a study involved with 827 university students also found that psychological capital was a mediator between stress and well-being. In other words, the student's stress level can be reduced by enhancing the student's psychological capital level, subsequently contributing to a positive effect on the student's well-being [8].…”