Mental Health as a Predictor of Quality of Life among University Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Mental health is one of the most essential predictors of university students’ well-being and quality of life. The way quality of life and mental health interact needs to be assessed in order to be able to design efficient health care policies to support students’ well-being.
Aim of Study: To evaluate the relationship between mental health and quality of life among students at King Faisal University and to determine the predictive effect of mental health and selected demographic characteristics on quality of life.
Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design was used for 407 students from different colleges at King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires that assessed mental health and quality of life, together with the students’ demographic characteristics. For inferential results; the descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, independent-samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis were performed. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results: The findings indicated generally favorable levels of mental health and quality of life, with mean percentages of 71.8% and 71.6%, respectively. All dimensions of mental health and quality of life were found to be significantly different from their hypothetical means (p = 0.001). There was a positive correlation between all dimensions of mental health and quality of life, with correlation coefficients ranging between r = 0.20 and r = 0.76 (p = 0.001). There was a positive correlation between overall mental health and quality of life (r = 0.73, p = 0.001). Mental health was found to be a positive predictor of quality of life (B = 1.20, SE = 0.05, t = 21.90, p = 0.001), explaining 54% of the variance in quality of life (R² = 0.54).
Conclusion: The study established that there was a high correlation between mental health and quality of life among King Faisal University students. Mental health was identified as a key predictor of quality of life, which indicates the importance of intensified promotion, screening, counseling, and preventive measures of mental health problems in universities to improve students’ quality of life.