University Students’ Mental Well-Being A Study of Stress, Burnout, Mindfulness, Resilience, and Meaning in Life

Abstract

In this empirical study, key factors related to mental health of Hungarian university students were examined. Results indicate that students reported a high average of the stress score. Gender differences were only significant in the mindfulness scale, where men scored significantly higher. Among the variables examined, resilience showed the strongest negative correlation with perceived stress. Among the subscales of burnout, emotional exhaustion exhibited the strongest correlation with stress, followed by professional efficacy, and, lastly, cynicism. The Life Meaning Scale showed a moderate negative correlation with perceived stress, while mindfulness demonstrated a smaller but still significant negative relationship. Regarding well-being, the strongest positive correlation was found with the Life Meaning Scale. Resilience and mindfulness also showed a significant positive correlation with well-being. Burnout was negatively related to well-being. According to the results of multivariate regression analysis, perceived stress, resilience, and burnout were the most significant predictors of students’ well-being. Perceived stress alone explained 36.7% of the variance in well-being (R² = 0,367), which increased to 44.1% (R² = 0,441) when resilience and burnout were included. These findings suggest that stress and burnout may significantly impact students’ psychological well-being, while resilience can serve as a protective factor.