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Learning Objective 1: ...differentiate between the constructs of health behaviors and perceived global wellbeing
Learning Objective 2: ...discuss at least two of the identified relationships between college students' global wellbeing, mental health risks, health risk behaviors, adjustment to college, and academic performance.
Adam’s Multiple Dimensions of Perceived Wellness guided this descriptive study. Recruited subjects (N = 281) from randomly selected entry-level courses at a medium-sized university completed a customized survey. Descriptive analysis was presented for the 21 independent variables. Inferential analysis included ANOVAs, correlations, and multiple regressions.
Global wellbeing correlated with students’ mental health risk (r = -.402; p ≤ .01), academic performance (r = -.267; p ≤ .01), and adjustment to college (r = .165; p ≤ .01). Stepwise regression explained 24.3% variability in global wellbeing by the single indexed variable: mental health risk (R2 = .243; p <.001; ANOVA: F (1, 249) = 72.139; p < .001; Beta = -.474; t (249) = -8.493; p <.001). Mental health risk also correlated with students’ health risk behaviors (r = .322; p ≤ .01), and academic performance (r = .620; p ≤ .01). The only other variable that correlated with students’ health risk behaviors was academic performance (r = .433; p ≤ .01).
Mental health needs are integral with students’ health risk behaviors, academic performance, and global wellbeing. Wellbeing is a holistic perceptual construct. Focusing wellness efforts on areas of choice can improve wellness dimensionally and globally. Assessing global wellbeing and health risks simultaneously can guide the appropriate level of intervention by identifying at-risk students. These practices could provide the foundation for evidence-based health promotion and wellness programs.