Self-efficacy in health among university students: the role of social support and place

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to better understand the role of students' living arrangements (on campus, off campus, with and without their parents) on their health self-efficacy.

PARTICIPANTS

A sample of undergraduate students (n = 216) were recruited by using word of mouth and visiting classrooms in a small Atlantic Canadian university.

METHODS

Participants completed a self-report questionnaire measuring health and sleep self-efficacy. Analyses of variance and covariance were used to compare the living arrangements of the students.

RESULTS

Differences between living arrangements were found. Students living on campus had higher health self-efficacy, particularly on the psychological well-being subscale, followed by those living off campus with their parents. Students living off campus without their parents had the lowest scores.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that health self-efficacy varies according to students' living situations, thus illustrating the importance of keeping students' living arrangements in mind when designing health and well-being interventions.

Lifestyles, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress as Risk Factors in Nursing Apprentices: A Logistic Regression Analysis of 1193 Students in Lima, Peru

Currently, it is considered that mental disorders are related to different types of chronic pathologies; for this reason, efforts to improve general health should also focus on preserving mental health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine through logistic regression if the independent variables (risk factors) such as (X1) age, (X2) sex, (X3) marital status, (X4) number of children, and (X5) occupation have influence on the dependent variables such as lifestyles, depression, anxiety, and stress in Peruvian nursing students. The research study was descriptive, transversal, and prospective; 1193 nursing students from Chorrillos, Ica, and Chincha were evaluated, which constituted the total population for the 2018 semester. The Health Promoting Life Profile-II (HPLP-II) and the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were used as instruments. 53.9% of nursing students had unhealthy lifestyles; however, they presented moderate (19.7%), slight (14.2%), severe (2.5%), and extremely severe (2.4%) anxiety. With respect to depression, it was found that 61.2% and 59.9% of affected students were stressed. A significant association was found only between depression and age (p=0.040) and OR = 2.0 (95% CI 1.3-3.1), anxiety and marital status (p=0.043) and OR = 1.7 (95% CI 1.0-2.6), and lifestyles and sex of the students (p=0.003) and OR = 1.1 (95% CI 1.1-2.3). Finally, it is concluded that Peruvian nursing students showed levels of anxiety ranging from moderate to extremely severe, while most of them had "normal" states of depression and stress and also showed unhealthy lifestyles.

Longitudinal multigroup invariance analysis of the satisfaction with food-related life scale in university students

This study examined longitudinal measurement invariance in the Satisfaction with Food-related Life (SWFL) scale using follow-up data from university students. We examined this measure of the SWFL in different groups of students, separated by various characteristics. Through non-probabilistic longitudinal sampling, 114 university students (65.8% female, mean age: 22.5) completed the SWFL questionnaire three times, over intervals of approximately one year. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine longitudinal measurement invariance. Two types of analysis were conducted: first, a longitudinal invariance by time, and second, a multigroup longitudinal invariance by sex, age, socio-economic status and place of residence during the study period. Results showed that the 3-item version of the SWFL exhibited strong longitudinal invariance (equal factor loadings and equal indicator intercepts). Longitudinal multigroup invariance analysis also showed that the 3-item version of the SWFL displays strong invariance by socio-economic status and place of residence during the study period over time. Nevertheless, it was only possible to demonstrate equivalence of the longitudinal factor structure among students of both sexes, and among those older and younger than 22 years. Generally, these findings suggest that the SWFL scale has satisfactory psychometric properties for longitudinal measurement invariance in university students with similar characteristics as the students that participated in this research. It is also possible to suggest that satisfaction with food-related life is associated with sex and age.