The mental health of college students and the level of academic achievement: Knowledge about psychological well-being, self-control, and college learning

• Published in: Československá psychologie Vol. 68; no. 1; pp. 80 - 95
• Main Authors: Xiang, Yong, Shuai, Chun, Zhang, Yutong, Li, Yin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Praha Institute of Psychology, Academy of Science 25.02.2024
• Subjects: College students; Mental health; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Self control
• ISSN: 0009-062X; 1804-6436
• DOI: 10.51561/cspsych.68.1.80

Objectives. This paper aimed to increase knowledge about the psychological well-being and self-control of students during their college years and the impact of these indicators on academic performance. Sample and settings. The researchers developed and integrated a semester psychological elective course "Successful Learning". During this course, the students received theoretical information about planning, goal setting, self-discipline, and interaction with others and practiced the acquired knowledge in practical classes. Before and after the end of the course, they passed testing according to the questionnaires on psychological well-being (PWB, Gao and McLellan) and self-control (SC, Unger et al.). The Student's t-test was used for comparison. Results. The findings showed that self-control and psychological well-being were amenable to improvement. The documented results of previous studies on the impact of self-control and psychological well-being on academic performance were confirmed by ANOVA. Study limitations. A relatively small sample size and a wide age range of participants could affect the accuracy of the results. The absence of a control group makes it impossible to exclude the influence of external factors on the psychological well-being and self-control of participants.