Psychological well-being of college freshmen living away from home: Basis for program development

• Main Author: Gagolinan, Niko Marco G.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: College students—Philippines—Psychology; Living alone—Philippines
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11637
• Institution: De La Salle University

Freshmen college students who live away from home may experience challenges as they adjust to university life and to their living arrangements. Literature suggests that they tend to experience loneliness and dissatisfaction with their overall living conditions that negatively affect their psychological well-being. Residential life programs geared towards developing social connection and enhanced well-being for students living on-campus have been recommended but seemingly have not been undertaken. This quantitative descriptive research aims to establish baseline data on the different dimensions of psychological well-being among first year college students living away from home. The Psychological Well-Being Scale assessing six theory- guided dimensions of psychological well-being on Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life, and Self-Acceptance was used. Out of 296 first year students who declared living away from home, 94 students responded and completed the instrument. The result indicates a mean score of 4.91 on a seven-point scale for overall psychological well-being. Mean scores in the six subscales fall within the range of 4.45 to 5.80. The development of a psychoeducational well-being program incorporating insightsfrom the study to address the needs of freshmen students living away from home is recommended.