Psychological Well-being of University Students during SARS COVID 19 Pandemic

Abstract

Psychological well-being commonly referrers to as "being well" and relates to the general health of people in a specific environment. The epidemiological crisis generated by the appearance of the SARS-Covid 19 virus brought about sudden changes in personal, social, family and work life worldwide, specifically due to the need to isolate ourselves from the various areas of interaction, forcing individuals to bring their knowledge and skills into play and to create new ones in order to continue developing their activities. The educational environment is no exception, therefore the objective of this brief study was to identify the personal and social areas of undergraduate level students that are associated with their perception of well-being and that facilitate their training in the online modality established temporarily during the year 2021, due to health regulations related to SARS-Covid 19. The study involved 222 students who are studying for a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology in a Public Institution of the State of Michoacán in face-to-face modality, their age fluctuates between 19 and 24 years old. They were 82.9% female and 17.1% male. This was a descriptive and correlational study with non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The instrument used was the Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale with 39 items and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.91 in the Mexican population. The factors evaluated by the scale are self-acceptance, positive relationships, autonomy, mastery of the environment, personal growth and purpose in life. We analyze data using SPSS 23 program. The results showed that 89.2% of the participants obtained high levels of well-being and 10.8% moderate to low levels of well-being. The factors that seem to have a negative impact on the perception of well-being are personal growth and mastery of the environment with lower levels of well-being. In the correlational analysis between sociodemographic factors and the scale indicators. Significant data only appears between the semester with mastery of the environment and purpose in life and between the average with self-acceptance, positive relationships and mastery of the environment. We concluded that mastery of the environment is a factor that contributes to the feeling of well-being and that it occurs progressively with the advancement in training, since students in the 7th and 9th semesters scored higher in this dimension and have greater academic resources in the use of technology. These results make it necessary to propose strategies that allow the development of skills from the beginning of the bachelor's degree to promote greater coping with the changes that arise in their formative process.