Is university Capable to Build Resilience in Students?

Universities play a critical role in educating students for their successful career. However, in higher educational institutes major focus is given on their academic achievement and psychological factors like academic stress are ignored. The aim of this quantitative study was to investigate predictive relationship between academic resilience and stress of the university students. Convenience sampling technique was used to collect data from 738 northern area university students in Pakistan. Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) having 6 items developed by Smith et al., (2008) was used to measure perceived resilience of university students, freely available on internet for academic research. During data collection respondents were asked to assess themselves on a 6-point Likert scale on both scales. Tools were validated by experts and reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha (0.813). For data analysis, the gathered information was organized and summarized in Excel. Following that, it was analysed using SPSS version 22. To find the effect of perceived resilience stress of the university students regression model was used. Before analysis assumptions of regression model as given by Field (2013) and Laerd (2018) were considered. Findings of this research revealed that perceived resilience scores had a great significant negative effect on stress of university students. The present study highlighted the influence of psychological constructs resilience on reducing stress of university students which ultimately affect their academic performance. In the light of results of current study, it can be recommended that through workshops, seminars, and orientation sessions how university teachers can be motivated to enhance their capacity for teaching and learning using resilience abilities  .

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Although the numbers of youths entering universities in Malaysia are increasing rapidly, several studies have shown that some students are suffering from poor mental health which could lead them to have experience positive emotions and more negative emotions. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between positive emotion and resilience among UPSI undergraduate students and to examine the difference between male students and female students in positive emotion and resilience. Cross-sectional survey design was applied to gather the data of 140 participants using both paper and pencil method and online survey method. A set of questionnaire comprising demographic information, Dispositional Positive Emotions Scales (DPES) to measure positive emotions and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) to measure resilience was given. Using Pearson's product-moment correlation analysis, it was found that there was a significant relationship between positive emotion and resilience, r= 0.4. Thus, null hypothesis is rejected. The correlation coefficient obtained showed that there is positive correlation between positive emotion and resilience among UPSI students in which students with more positive emotion are more likely to have higher level of resilience. Based on the t-test analysis, the difference was not significant between male students and female students for both positive emotions and resilience. In conclusion, more positive psychology programs can be conducted to educate the students about good mental health and well-being which will eventually increase their psychological resilience in facing challenges in their university lives.

2014

Introduction. In the past two decades, increased attention has been given to the importance of non-cognitive factors in learning, and in academic, social and professional success. There are two quite interrelated variables that influence behavior when facing stress in the academic context, resilience and coping strategies, and only recently have they received attention in the university context. Method. A total of 117 university students took part in the research, which used the EEC coping and CD-RISC resilience scales. Descriptive and association analyses as well as MANOVAs were performed in order to confirm students' profile of resilience and strategies for coping with stress, to observe the type of relationship between the two constructs, and to analyze the possible effect of gender and type of university on their resilience and coping strategy profile. Results. The research reveals medium-high scores in resilience, and general use of problemfocused coping strategies. Not only is the connection between variables important, but gender and type of university were shown to have effects on tenacity, spirituality, self-instructions, action directed at the causes, positive re-appraisal and firmness, and religious support. Discussion and conclusions. The research provides evidence that there is a connection between resilience and coping strategies, and offers important information about how some indicators of the two can be influenced by gender and context, such as the type of university. Further inquiry into these questions is needed, and they may be especially interesting for university admission and guidance departments.

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2018

This study has two main objectives, first to investigate the relationship between dimensions of social support, optimism, self-efficacy and dimensions of psychological well-being and level of resilience among Iranian graduate students in University Putra Malaysia and second, to investigate the extent to which dimensions of social support, optimism, self-efficacy and dimensions of psychological well-being significantly predict the level of resilience among Iranian graduate students in University Putra Malaysia. This research is a descriptive correlational study. The 251 of Iranian graduate students of university Putra Malaysia participated in this research. Simple random sampling was employed to collect data. According to the findings, there are positive relationships between optimism, three dimensions of social support (support from family, significant others and friends), self-efficacy, and four dimensions of psychological well-being (personal growth, purpose in life, positive relation with others and autonomy) and resilience. Also, the result of stepwise regression analysis revealed that self-efficacy, personal growth, optimism, and purpose in life are significant predictors of resilience. This study provides useful implication for the involved parties, such as Ministry of Education Malaysia, educators, counsellors, psychologist, and researchers to improve students' resilience.

IJCIRAS, 2018

The present research was executed to elucidate the role of resilience, learned optimism and self-esteem on the psychological well-being of University students. The sample consisted of 50 students studying post graduate courses in a university. They were assessed by resilience scale, learned optimism scale, self-esteem scale and psychological well-being scale. The results of correlation coefficient indicated that all of the studied variables were correlated with psychological well-being. Also, the regression analysis showed that resilience, self-esteem and learned optimism could predict psychological well-being significantly. The implications and limitations of the research are discussed.

The study mainly aims to term the better understanding of emotional stability and the implications for the mental health and personal growth. Investigating the conceptualization and measurement of emotional stability. The specific dimension of personality of an individual which include the psychological foundations and environmental influence. The impacts of emotional stability in an aspect of life which includes the interpersonal relationships, working performance and social well-being. The main factor influence emotional stability is personal trait and coping mechanisms. By providing the comprehensive nature of the review as an insightfor the future research purpose and practical application in emotional resilience.

This study concerned the relationships among the dispositional resilience, the dimensions of psychological well-being, and the coping strategies in a sample of 183 Italian university students aged 20-26 years and recruited from three Degree Courses at University of Catania (East Sicily, Italy). The following scales were used: 1) the Dispositional Resilience Scale-II to explore the factors of positive attitude, helplessness/alienation, and rigidity; 2) the Psychological Well-Being Scales clustered in six dimensions named autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, positive relations with others, personal growth, and self-acceptance; 3) the COPE Inventory to analyze the five coping strategies defined as social support, reinterpretation, avoidance, problem solving, humor/turning to religion. Results indicated that high levels of positive attitude were correlated positively with the strategies of reinterpretation and problem solving, but negatively with avoidance coping, and high levels of helplessness/alienation were related positively to avoidance. Moreover, high levels of positive attitude were positively correlated with almost all dimensions of psychological well-being; high levels of helplessness/alienation were negatively correlated with psychological well-being. Finally, almost all dimensions of psychological well-being were correlated negatively with avoidance strategy and positively with problem solving coping; in addition, personal growth was positively correlated with reinterpretation. Implications for future educational trainings, centered on the effects of resilience and coping strategies on psychological well-being, will be discussed.

2021

The aims of the present study were (1) to explore sex-related differences and (2) to estimate the associations between resilience, emotion regulation, peer relationship, humor, and body-esteem. A sample of Indian college students (N = 1000) took part in this study. They responded to the Hindi versions of the resilience scale, emotion regulation questionnaire for children and adolescents, peer relationship scale, humor style questionnaire, and body-esteem scale. Results indicated that men obtained higher mean scores on resilience, peer relationship, humor, and body-esteem than women. All the correlations between the variables were statistically significant and positive. It was concluded that those who consider themselves as resilient experienced greater emotion regulation, body-esteem, humor, and peer relationship.

European Psychiatry, 2015

Background: The growing focus on health promotion and wellbeing provides an opportunity to investigate the role of resilience in health. Aims: To identify the relationship between resilience, depressive symptoms, and perceived social support among university students in Jordan. Methods: a descriptive correlational design utilized to collect data collected using self-reported questionnaire from 480 university students from two private and two public universities in Jordan. Data collected in regards to resilience, depressive symptoms, and perceived social support. Results: The results showed that 50% of the university students in this study had moderate to high level of resiliency, 70% had certain degree of depressive feeling, and about 50% had had high level of perception of social support from family, friends, and others. The findings also showed that depression (β =-.51, p < .001) and perceived social support from friends (β = .18, p < .001) were significant predictors of resilience. Conclusions: Mental health professionals need to enhance resiliency and perceived social support system among university-aged individuals. In their periodic assessment, mental health professionals have to screen students for risk behaviors and psychosocial health indicators such as resilience, depressive symptoms, sources of perceived social support and life styles.

The study investigated openness to experience, self-concept and life satisfaction on academic resilience among undergraduate students to fill the gap from previous researches. The study adopt descriptive survey research design, the population consisted of all undergraduate students in University of Ibadan. The study sample consisted of five hundred (500) students selected from the University through convenience sampling techniques. Four standardized instrument were used i.e. openness to experience (r=.91), self-concept (r=.87), life satisfaction (r=.62) and academic resilience (r=.88) and data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression analysis. The results revealed that there was positive correlation between each componential factors on academic resilience i.e. openness to experience (.802, p<.05); self-concept (.591, p<.05) and life satisfaction (.491, p<.05), also, the joint contribution of the independent variables to the dependent variable was significant and the result yielded a multiple regression (R) of 5.973, R 2 = 35.677 and R 2 (adjusted)= 32.211, moreover, openness to experience (Beta=3.470; t=2.271; p<.05) was the only variable that potent relative contribute to academic resilience followed by self-concept (Beta=1.902; t=2.494; p<.05) then followed by life satisfaction (Beta=0.975; t=3.511; p>.05). It is then recommended that parents, school psychologists and social workers should provide adequate assistance to the undergraduate students in adapting to higher institution environment to aids their learning outcomes.

INDIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 2025

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between Resilience and Personality among college students in Ladakh. Further, to explore the gender difference among the study variables. For this purpose, a total of 200 college students (100 male and 100 female) in the age range of 18-22 years were randomly selected from government colleges of Kargil (Ladakh). The Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2008) and NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI-R) (Costa & McCrae, 2004) were used to collect data from the participants. Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data. Statistical techniques like descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. The result of the t-test found that there was no significant gender difference in Resilience and Personality traits of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Neuroticism. However, a significant gender difference was found in the personality traits of Openness to experience, where female college students was found to score higher than that of male college students. Further, the results of the correlational analysis revealed that Resilience has a significant positive correlation with Extraversion, Openness to experience, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness and significant negative correlation with Neuroticism trait of personality. In summary, the implications of Resilience and Personality among college students extend to academic success, mental well-being, adaptability, and interpersonal relationships. Understanding and addressing these factors can contribute to a more positive and supportive college experience for students.

Frontiers in Psychology, 2022

The aim of this research was to delimit the predictive and mediational model of resilience between character strengths to predict flourishing, in a sample of undergraduate students. After signing their informed consent, 642 university students completed three validated scales (i.e., character strengths, resilience, and flourishing). Using an ex post facto design, regression, structural modeling, and mediation analyses were carried out, in order to construct a multi-causal predictive model. Results indicated a consistent predictive direct effect of character strengths on resilience and flourishing and of resilience on flourishing. As hypothesized, resilience also showed a mediating effect on the relationship between character strengths and flourishing. Additionally, results also revealed that the reactive and proactive factors of resilience were explained by different character strengths (e.g., emotional strength/cognitive, interpersonal strengths), reinforcing the idea that the two directions are complementary and necessary. Finally, several implications were established for the practice of positive psychology.

Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2014

Attending university is a particularly stressful time due to unique emergent stressors such as changes in environment, loss or diminishment of social support networks, academic pressures, developing peer relationships, and financial management. There is growing recognition that these common stressors may have deleterious effects on the mental health of students. Resilience, a personality characteristic that moderates the negative effects of stress and promotes adaptation, has been associated with increased psychological well-being. Despite a growing body of research on resilience and its clinical significance in preventing mental health problems, relatively little is known about contributing factors for resilience in well-adjusted university students. This current study examined the characteristics of university students reporting high and low resilience for elucidating its clinical implications in preventing mental health problem, primarily focusing on potentially modifiable psychosocial variables. An international sample of 214 university students recruited from Australia, the United States of America, and Hong Kong universities completed measures of resilience, perceived social support, campus connectedness, and psychological distress. Results of a one-way between groups multivariate analysis of variance revealed that perceived social support, campus connectedness, and psychological distress accounted for a significant proportion (36%) of the variance between the high and low resilience groups of university students. University students with low levels of resilience reported significantly lower levels of perceived social support, campus connectedness, and higher levels of psychological distress, in comparison to university students with high levels of resilience. Findings offer important implications for the development of resilience-based interventions among university students.

This study investigates the relationship between resilience, self-esteem and the big five personality traits, in a sample of emerging adults students, (N = 192). In this respect, three questionnaires were administered: an instrument which operationalizes resilience as a skill of rapid recovery following unpleasant events (Brief Resilience Scale – BRS), and personality and self-esteem questionnaires (the Big Five Inventory-10 – BFI-10, respectively the Single-item self esteem – SISE). Correlational and regression analysis shows statistically significant relationships between resilience, self-esteem, extraversion and neuroticism. Self-esteem as well as neuroticism can be considered a predictor of resilience, which suggests the fact that emotional balance and self trust are essential for the confrontation with stressful factors.