IMPLICATIONS OF CHRONIC DISEASES AND ACADEMIC STRESS ON STUDENTS’ QUALITY OF LIFE
Abstract
The present study had two main aims, namely to identify differences between the quality of life of students with chronic illness compared to that of students without significant health difficulties and to identify significant predictors among academic stressors. Materials and methods: Data were collected between May and July 2023 using an instrument consisting of The World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF and Academic Stress Scale from 257 students, of whom 52 had a diagnosis of chronic illness and 202 did not. Results: there were significant differences according to the presence or absence of chronic illness in psychological health [t(255) = -2.569, p = 0.011], physiological health [t(255) = -5.502, p < 0.01] and social relationships [t(255) = -2.640, p = 0.009]. Among subjects with a chronic illness, two significant predictive models were identified, the first is composed of the predictor self-perceptions (F(1, 54)=23.62, p<.01), and the second from the predictors self-perceptions and time limits (F(2, 54)=16.27 p<.01). Among subjects without a chronic illness three statistically significant predictive models were identified, the third strongest being made up of self-perceptions, pressure to perform and time limits (F(3, 201)=40.00, p<.01). Conclusions: the quality of life of students with chronic illness is significantly lower compared to that of students without chronic illness. In addition to the fact that students’ quality of life is impacted by academic stress driven by self- perceptions and time limits, that of students without chronic illnesses is additionally impacted by pressure to perform.
References
2. Barber D, Williams JL. Invisible Chronic Illness in Female College Students. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability 2021; 34(4): 311-330.
3. WHO.The World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL): position paper from the World Health Organization Soc Sci Med 1995; 41(10): 1403-1409.
4. Thongseiratch T, Chandeying N. Chronic Illnesses and Student Academic Performance. Journal of Health Science and Medical Research 2020; 38(3) / doi:10.31584/jhsmr.2020738.
5. Herts KL, Wallis E, Maslow G. College Freshmen with Chronic Illness: A Comparison with Healthy First-Year Students. Journal of College Student Development 2014; 55(5): 475-480 / doi:10.1353/ csd.2014.0052.
6. Maslow GR, Haydon A, McRee AL, Ford CA, Halpern CT. Growing up with a chronic illness: social success, educational/vocational distress. J Adolesc Health 2011; 49(2): 206-212.
7. Wilson C, Spencer G. The mental health support needs of university students with long-term physical health conditions. Health Education 2022; 122 / doi: 10.1108/HE-01-2022-0004.
8. Spencer G, Lewis S, Reid M. The agentic Self and uncontrollable body: Young people’s management of chronic illness at university. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine 2019;136345931988908 / doi:10.1177/1363459319889088.
9. Waite F, Elliot DL. Feeling like ‘a damaged battery’: exploring the lived experiences of UK university students with ME/CFS. Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior 2021 / doi: 10.1080/ 21641846. 2021.1969800.
10. Pascoe MC, Hetrick SE, Parker AG. The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 2020; 25(1): 104-112 / doi: 10.1080/ 02673843.2019.1596823
11. Gazova KA, Khushtova KA. Study of psychological peculiarities of students with various chronic disorders in the personal and family medical history. Innov Mech Solving Sci Dev Probl 2017; 50-54.
12. Royster L, Marshall O. The chronic illness initiative: Supporting college students with chronic illness needs at DePaul University. J Postsecond Educ Disabil 2008; 20: 120-125.
13. França FDP, Dias TL. Validity and Reliability of the Perceptions of Academic Stress Scale. Psychol-ogy: Theory and Practice 2021; 23(1): 1-21 / doi: 10.5935/1980- 6906/ePTPPA13041
14. Cerqueira A, Botelho Guedes F, Marques-Pinto A, et al. Chronic Conditions and School Participation of First-Year University Students-HOUSE ULisbon Study. Children 2022; 9: 1397 / doi: 10.3390/ children9091397.
15. Hughes K, Corcoran T, Slee R. Health-inclusive higher education: Listening to students with disabilities or chronic illnesses. J High Educ Res Dev 2016; 35: 488-501.
16. Shamionov RM, Grigoryeva MV, Grinina ES, Sozonnik AV. Characteristics of Academic Adaptation and Subjective Well-Being in University Students with Chronic Diseases. European Journal of Inves-tigation in Health, Psychology and Education 2020; 10(3): 816-831 / doi:10.3390/ ejihpe10030059.
17. Sligo J, Jones B, Davies C, Egan R, Ingham T, Hancox B, Richards R. The experiences of young people with chronic illness in New Zealand: A qualitative study. Child: Care, Health and Development 2019 / doi:10.1111/cch.12696.
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
COPYRIGHT
Once an article is accepted for publication, MSJ requests a transfer of copyrights for published articles.
COPYRIGHT TRANSFER FORM FOR
REVISTA MEDICO-CHIRURGICALĂ A SOCIETĂȚII DE MEDICI ȘI NATURALIȘTI DIN IAȘI /
THE MEDICAL-SURGICAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF PHYSICIANS AND NATURALISTS FROM IASI
We, the undersigned authors of the manuscript entitled
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
warrant that this manuscript, which is submitted for publication in the REVISTA MEDICO-CHIRURGICALĂ, has not been published and it is not under consideration for publication in another journal.
- we give the consent for publication in the REVISTA MEDICO-CHIRURGICALĂ, in printed and electronic format and we transfer unconditioned and complete the copyright of this manuscript to the REVISTA MEDICO-CHIRURGICALĂ, in the event of its acceptance.
- the manuscript does not break the intellectual property rights of any other person.
- we have read the submitted version of the manuscript and we are fully responsible for the content.
Names and signatures of authors / copyright owners (the following sequence is the authorship of the article):
- ______________________________/_________________________
- ______________________________/_________________________
- ______________________________/_________________________
N.B. All the authors must sign this form