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Comparing Mental Health, Wellbeing and Flourishing in Undergraduate Students Pre- and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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  • Marien Alet Graham

    (Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

  • Irma Eloff

    (Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

Abstract

There has been a preponderance of studies on student mental health, wellbeing and flourishing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have compared data on student mental health and wellbeing before and during the pandemic. The purpose of the current study was to compare mental health and wellbeing in undergraduate students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey research was conducted with three groups of undergraduate students (n = 905) from diverse scientific fields at a large, urban university in South Africa. Data was collected by means of electronic surveys, combining full-scale items from three instruments, the Mental Health Continuum Short Form, the Flourishing Scale and the Fragility of Happiness Scale. Data was analysed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) and R software. The results indicate that while the mental health and wellbeing of students declined during the pandemic concerning their perceived ability to contribute to society, having supportive and rewarding social relationships and them being engaged and interested in their daily activities, it also improved in terms of their perceived ability to manage their daily lives (environmental mastery), being challenged to grow (personal growth) and in terms of their views that society was becoming better (social growth/actualisation).

Suggested Citation

  • Marien Alet Graham & Irma Eloff, 2022. "Comparing Mental Health, Wellbeing and Flourishing in Undergraduate Students Pre- and during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7438-:d:841217
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    1. Monika Talarowska & Kinga Rucka & Mateusz Kowalczyk & Jan Chodkiewicz & Edward Kowalczyk & Michał Seweryn Karbownik & Monika Sienkiewicz, 2023. "Mental Health of Students at Polish Universities after Two Years of the Outbreak of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-12, January.

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