Process-Based Study among University Students Covering Psychological Resilience as a Mechanism Linking Perceived Stress to Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

High competence in society brings university students under substantial academic and psychosocial stress, which may negatively influence their psychological well-being. The current study looked at psychological resilience as a process-based mechanism that connects university students’ psychological well-being to their perceptions of stress. So, the study collects sample of 150 students (aged 18–30 years) from Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Brief Resilience Scale, and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale. The investigation based on descriptive analysis suggests psychological well-being (M = 48.03, SD = 9.90), psychological resilience (M = 50.72, SD = 8.23), and perceived stress (M = 24.71, SD = 8.41) are all at moderate levels. Another investigation based on correlation analysis, psychological resilience and psychological well-being are strongly and negatively correlated with perceived stress (r = −0.76, p <.001) and psychological well-being (r = −0.80, p <.001), while psychological resilience and psychological well-being are strongly positively correlated (r = 0.81, p <.001). The observation from regression analysis demonstrated that perceived stress significantly predicted lower psychological well-being (β = −0.80), while resilience positively predicted well-being (β = 0.81). Furthermore, a significant indirect effect of perceived stress on psychological well-being through resilience was verified by mediation analysis (B = -0.30, 95% CI [-0.58, -0.31]). These results demonstrate the importance of psychological resilience as a safeguard against the negative impacts of stress on students’ mental health.