Associations of university education with students' subjective well-being and self-care

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62697/rmiie.v5i3.388

Keywords:

Subjective well-being, self-care, university students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between subjective well-being and self-care, identifying differences according to semester and academic area in university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 303 university students selected by convenience sampling, using the Subjective Well-being Scale and the Self-Care Behaviors Scale. Questionnaires were distributed via QR codes at two Mexican universities. The sample included students from three main academic areas: Health Sciences, Humanities, and Exact Sciences. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman's rho coefficient. Exact Sciences students obtained the highest scores in subjective well-being and life satisfaction (p < .05). No significant differences in self-care were found according to area, sex, or semester. A strong correlation was observed between self-care and subjective well-being, but not with age or semester. The results highlight the need for differentiated strategies to improve well-being according to academic area, emphasizing self-care as a key factor.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alqatawna, M. I., Quba, A. A., & Haider, A. S. (2024). University majors and personality traits: A quantitative study of natural sciences and language majors. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 13(2), 46. https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v13n2p46

Brouwer, K. R., Walmsley, L. A., Parrish, E. M., McCubbin, A. K., Welsh, J. D., Braido, C. E. C., & Okoli, C. T. C. (2021). Examining the associations between self-care practices and psychological distress among nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurse Education Today, 100, 104864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104864

Caballero-García, P. Á., & Ruiz, S. S. (2025). Emotional intelligence and its relationship with subjective well-being and academic achievement in university students. Journal of Intelligence, 13(4), 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13040042

Cadavid-Ruiz, N., Herrán-Murillo, Y. F., Patiño-Gil, J. C., Ochoa-Muñoz, A. F., & Varela-Arévalo, M. T. (2023). Actividad física y percepción de bienestar en la universidad: Estudio longitudinal durante el COVID-19. Retos, 50, 102–112. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v50.98968

Calleja, N., & Mason, T. A. (2020). Escala de bienestar subjetivo (EBS-20 y EBS-8): Construcción y validación. Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación-e Avaliação Psicológica, 2(55), 185–201. https://scispace.com/pdf/escala-de-bienestar-subjetivo-ebs-20-y-ebs-8-construccion-y-1i0znj2806.pdf

Canales-Gómez, I. J., & Torres-Mendoza, B. M. (2024). Contexto cultural e impacto del autocuidado en la calidad de vida de los estudiantes de medicina: Enfoque de métodos mixtos. Gaceta Médica de México, 160(1), 92–101. https://doi.org/10.24875/gmm.23000406

Ding, L.-L., Ren, X.-H., Zhu, L.-J., He, L.-P., Chen, Y., & Yao, Y.-S. (2024). Life satisfaction and its relationship with personality traits among medical college students in China. Cureus, 16(4), e57503. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.57503

Estrada Nava, E. Y., Veytia López, M., Guadarrama Guadarrama, R., & Pérez Rodríguez, M. (2023). Papel de la alimentación saludable y no saludable en el nivel de bienestar subjetivo experimentado por adolescentes y adultos: Una revisión sistemática. Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores, 10(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.46377/dilemas.v10i3.3641

Flórez-Rodríguez, Y. N., & Sánchez-Aragón, R. (2022). Midiendo el estrés y la rumiación: Su percepción de reto vs. amenaza. Informes Psicológicos, 22(2), 185–203. https://doi.org/10.18566/infpsic.v22n2a11

Gómez Borges, A., Peñalver, J., Martínez, I. M., & Salanova, M. (2023). Engagement académico en estudiantes universitarios: El rol mediador del capital psicológico como recurso personal. Educación XX1, 26(2), 51–70. https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.35847

González-González, D. Y., Jiménez-Ortiz, J. L., Ramírez-Sánchez, S. B., & Frutos-Nájera, D. G. (2024). Capacidad de autocuidado en estudiantes universitarios: Estudio longitudinal. Revista Científica Ciencias de la Salud, 6, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.53732/rccsalud/2024.e6134

Guerra-Santana, M. (2022). Validación psicométrica de la escala tránsito a la vida adulta en estudiantes universitarios. REOP: Revista Española de Orientación y Psicopedagogía, 33(2), 119–138. https://doi.org/10.5944/reop.vol.33.num.2.2022.34363

Hepburn, S. J., Carroll, A., & McCuaig, L. (2021). The relationship between mindful attention awareness, perceived stress, and subjective wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12290. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312290

Leal-Soto, F., Morales-Gómez, M. C., Sepúlveda-Páez, G., & Karmelic-Pavlov, V. (2023). Salud mental y bienestar psicológico: Variaciones durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en estudiantes de una facultad universitaria chilena. Terapia Psicológica, 41(3), 275–299. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-48082023000300275

Organización Mundial de la Salud. (2022). Directrices de la OMS sobre intervenciones de autocuidado para la salud y el bienestar, revisión 2022: Resumen ejecutivo. Organización Mundial de la Salud. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/357180/9789240052253-spa.pdf

Picton, A. (2021). Work-life balance in medical students: Self-care in a culture of self-sacrifice. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02434-5

Román-Quirós, R., Redondo-Alfaro, D., Herrera-Zúñiga, C., Martínez-Domínguez, M., Cairol-Barquero, A., & Mora-Sánchez, C. (2024). Relationship between academic burnout, self-care, and self-medication among Costa Rican university students in health-related sciences. Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología, 4, 1296. https://doi.org/10.56294/saludcyt2024.1296

Sánchez-García, A. B., Ballesteros-Espinoza, V. I., & Vicente-Galindo, M. P. (2025). Estilos de pensamiento de los estudiantes universitarios: Caracterización multivariante basada en clúster HJ-Biplot. Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje, 18(36), 269–282. https://gredos.usal.es/bitstream/10366/167495/1/Estilos_Pensamiento_2025.pdf

Simerly, G., & Blackhart, G. (2021). The effects of self-care on undergraduate stress. The Undergraduate Journal of Psychology, 32(1). https://journals.charlotte.edu/ujop/article/view/1058

Torres-Soto, N. Y., Corral-Verdugo, V., Corral Frías, N. S., & Rojas-Armadillo, M. L. (2021). Diseño y validación de la escala de conductas de autocuidado. Psicología Conductual, 29(3), 721–741. https://doi.org/10.51668/bp.8321312s

Torres-Soto, N. Y., Martínez-Ramírez, B., Suárez-Lara, G. A., & Matos-Aguayo, G. O. (2025). Autocuidado, conductas sustentables y bienestar humano en estudiantes de la división ciencias de la salud. Areté, Revista Digital del Doctorado en Educación, 11(21), 55–75. https://ve.scielo.org/pdf/arete/v11n21/2443-4566-arete-11-21-55.pdf

Zambrano-Bermeo, R. N., Estrada-González, C., & Herrera-Guerra, E. D. P. (2023). Effectiveness of an interpersonal influence intervention to increase commitment to adopt health-promoting behavior in nursing students. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 16, 3911–3922. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S434413

Downloads

Published

2026-06-26

How to Cite

Rosas-Santiago, F. J., & Rosas-Petriz, J. (2026). Associations of university education with students’ subjective well-being and self-care. Revista Mexicana De Investigación E Intervención Educativa, 5(3), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.62697/rmiie.v5i3.388

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 3 (2026): Aprender para transformar: nuevas perspectivas de la educación contemporánea (julio-septiembre)

Section

Artículos

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Francisco Javier Rosas-Santiago, Javier Rosas-Petriz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish in Revista Mexicana de Investigación e Intervención Educativa (RMIIE), of Universidad Pablo Latapí Sarre agree to the following terms:

1. Copyright

Authors retain unrestricted copyright to their work. Authors grant the journal the right of first publication. To this end, they assign the journal non-exclusive exploitation rights (reproduction, distribution, public communication, and transformation). Authors may enter into additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal, provided that acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal is given.

© The authors.

2. License

The articles are published in the journal under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The terms can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en

This license allows:

  • Sharing: Copying and redistributing the material in any medium or format.
  • Adapting: Remixing, transforming, and building upon the material.

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if any changes were made. You may do this in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses or sponsors your use.
  • NonCommercial: You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  • ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your creation under the same license as the original work.

There are no additional restrictions. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.