Abstract

PORTA-NOVA, Rui  and  FLEMING, Manuela. Academic life experiences, personal competences and mental health in health sciences students. Psicologia [online]. 2009, vol.23, n.1, pp.165-183. ISSN 0874-2049.  https://doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v23i1.322.

The goal of this investigation was to identify the Academic Life Experiences that have a major impact upon the Mental Health of young adult students of higher education degrees in the field of the Health Sciences, as well as the domains of Personal Competences that can contribute to the absence of psychological disturbance among them. The research dealt with a sample of 620 people, medical students, nursing students and allied health students: physiotherapy, cardiopulmonary technology and radiographer students, whose average age is 20,3 and ranges between 18 and 25 years old, 81% being female. The instruments used were a Demographic Questionnaire; The Academic Life Experiences Questionnaire - QVA (Almeida & Ferreira, 1997, 1999; Ferreira & Almeida, 1997); The Self-Perception Profile for College Students - SPPCS (Nee-mann & Harter, 1986; Pais-Ribeiro 1994) and The Mental Health Inventory - MHI (Pais-Ribeiro, 2001; Veit & Ware, 1983). Two predictor models of Mental Health were defined for this sample. The first model, which has the Academic Life Experiences as predictors, is composed by the variables Psychological Well-being, Self-confidence, Physical Well-being and Personal Perception of the Cognitive Competences. The second model with the domains of Personal Competences as predictor contains such variables as Global Self-Worth, Intellectual Ability, and Relationships with Parents, Physical Appearance and Romantic Relationships. We discuss the relevance of the final results and their implications, namely the importance of psychological well-being and self-esteem as mental health promoting factors for this population.

Keywords : college students; health sciences; academic life experiences; personal competences; mental health.

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