Coping Profiles and Health-Related Quality of Life of Public University Students

Aims: University students have increased health problems, mental disorders, and health risk behaviors, compared to the general population. Health consequences may increase by the presence of multiple risk factors and the lack of protective ones. This research aimed to study the health-related quality of life of students, and its relation to academic stress coping and happiness-increasing strategies. Instrument Methods: We used a relational transversal design, with a random stratified polytypic sample of 351 students. Applied instruments include the academic stress coping scale, the positive affect enhancing strategies scale, and the EUROQoL 5-D. The analysis included descriptive statistics, student t, simple ANOVA, and profile analysis through the hierarchical cluster method. Analysis was made with JAMOVI 1.6 software Findings: Sixty-five percent of students reported having one or more health problems, mostly mental health type and the health-related life quality perception score was 75 (from 0-100). We found five stress-coping profiles: intellectual, support-seeking, active, optimist, and passive, which differentiated in health-related life quality (F(4,343)=16.095, p 0.01). Conclusion: University students have a lower health-related quality of life than the general population. Academic stress-coping and happiness-enhancing strategies showed 5 profiles.