HEALTH PROFESSIONS STUDENTS' MENTAL WELL-BEING AND PERCEIVED HEALTH - ТHE IMPACT OF OPTIMISM, RESILIENCE, RELIGIOSITY AND STRESS

Abstract

The study explored the impact of optimism, resilience and religiosity on the mental well-being and perceived health as well as their role in the perceived stress and mental well-being relation in health professions’ students. The study was carried out online with a total of 123 students in medicine, nursing, assistant-pharmacists and social workers. Analyses suggest that optimism and resilience were associated with the stress appraisal as less intensive, less threatening and more controllable. Religiosity was not associated with perceived stress. The mental well-being was predicted positively by optimism, resilience and religiosity and negatively by stress, but perceived health – only by stress.  Resilience enhanced mental well-being both directly and indirectly through the perceived stress (partial mediator). Optimism acted as a moderator of stress and mental well-being relationship. Optimism, resilience and religiosity contribute to high levels of students' positive functioning in the mental health domain, but not in physical health domain as far as the subjective general physical health is concerned. Positive impact of optimism and resilience on psychological functioning is related to their associations with favorable stress appraisals and the buffering effect of optimism on stress. The positive influence of subjective level of religiosity on mental well-being is unrelated to how stress is perceived. Stress management programs as well as appropriate interventions and educational approaches to enhance resilience could be offered to health professions’ students.