The changing nature of work, leisure and involvement in society: some possible ideas from an old philosopher

Assessing well-being of university students and evaluation of its determinants

BACKGROUND

Our study aimed to examine the well-being of students studying at the three (non-medical) faculties of Semmelweis University Budapest, to analyse the relationships between well-being, stress, emotional support, sleep patterns, sport, and further variables like smoking, consumption of sleeping pills, sedatives, psychoactive agents, energy drinks, and exam anxiety.

METHODS

In our cross-sectional study, we asked 561 students of the Semmelweis University of Budapest; two internationally recognised instruments were used: the WHO-5 well-being index and the Perceived Stress Scale.

RESULTS

The mean WHO-5 well-being index was 42.62 ± 20.51 on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. We saw an inverse correlation between student well-being and years of study. The average anxiety level regarding oral exams and assessments was 7.63 ± SD = 2.04, while the mean level was lower concerning written exams and assessments 5.74 ± SD = 2.09. The result of a linear regression model indicates that the best level of explaining power by the regression model was with following variables combination: grade average + anxiety before written exam + academic year + stress.

CONCLUSION

Our data indicate that some students have poor or very poor well-being, which fluctuates over the study period. The worst state was found in the first and final academic year. The students' well-being level is positively correlated with emotional support, physical activity, and quality of sleep and correlates negatively with anxiety before exams. Our results suggest that well-being could be improved when universities play an active role, supporting influential activities and offering help regarding coping with stress, like stress management, as well as by providing information on learning methods and techniques.

Family functioning and mental health among secondary vocational students during the COVID-19 epidemic: A moderated mediation model

With the global outbreak of COVID-19, people are facing great physical and mental stress, and mental health problems are becoming increasingly prominent. Some theories emphasize the role of family in people's mental health, but the association between family functioning and mental health and the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation have not been extensively researched. This study examined whether loneliness mediates the relation between family functioning and mental health and, if so, whether this mediating effect is moderated by hope. A total of 5783 Chinese secondary vocational students completed measures of family adaptability and cohesion, loneliness, mental health, and hope. The results indicated that family functioning had a significant and positive predictive effect on the mental health of the students and that this relationship was partially mediated by loneliness. Further, hope moderated the relationship between family functioning and loneliness. Specifically, the relationship between family functioning and loneliness was significant for students with both high and low levels of hope. The current study contributes to a better understanding of the influence of family functioning on mental health, especially during trying times such as the COVID-19 epidemic.

The role of physical exercise as a personal resource against job stress

Purpose. The prevention of burnout symptoms is an essential goal in occupational health promotion. Physical exercise provides health-promotion benefits. This study aimed to verify physical exercise and its planned preparation as additional predictors of employees' burnout symptoms next to job demands and resources. We used the job demands-resources model as a theoretical framework. Method. In this longitudinal online study, 342 employees completed two questionnaires at an interval of 4 weeks. Results. Moderation and moderated mediation analyses confirmed vigorous physical exercise as a relevant personal resource, revealing that it buffers the detrimental effects of job demands on burnout symptoms. Planning strategies strongly predicted physical exercise and supported the debilitating effects of job resources on burnout symptoms. Especially in employees with medium levels of job stress, coping planning supported the enactment of vigorous physical exercise. Physical exercise did not mediate the association between job demands, job resources and burnout symptoms. Conclusions. This study enriches our knowledge about occupational health prevention. It points to a pressing topic for the near future, i.e., how work conditions (e.g., job stress) and leisure time (e.g., physical exercise) can be successfully combined to keep individuals' job stress to a minimum and to prevent burnout symptoms.