Relationship of Life Skills, Psychological Distress, and Wellbeing in Higher Education Students

Abstract

The association of psychological distress, well-being and life skills was assessed in the current study. The research design is cross-sectional survey, which includes the students of higher education in two publicly funded universities, approached through convenience sampling. Life skill Assessment Scale (LSAS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), and The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), were the measures of Life skills, Psychological Distress and Well-being respectively. The descriptive analysis, correlation, and regression was done. Results showed that critical thinking exhibited a strong positive impact, whereas empathy and interpersonal relationships had strong negative impacts on well-being. As highlighted in the current paper, life skills have a profound influence on students' psychological distress and well-being. Although the majority of skills had positive influences on well-being, the results of others, such as empathy and interpersonal relationships, had more complex negative outcomes. These results show that integrating life skills training into higher education is beneficial for maintaining mental health among university students in Pakistan. Keywords: Life Skills, Psychological Distress, Well-being, University Students