Loneliness and Worry as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being among College Students

Abstract

 College years represent a transitional period between adolescence and adulthood. At this stage, students face several crisis/challenges like academic competition, identity formation, career related uncertainty, and changing social networks. The psychological well-being is actively developing during emerging adulthood. These developmental challenges expose students to emotional stressors, among which loneliness and worry are especially prevalent. Therefore, present study examined the loneliness and worry as predictors of psychological well-being among college students. A sample of 312 students (108 males and 204 females) aged between 16 and 25 years (M = 19.5) participated in the study. Psychological well-being was measured using the Psychological Well-Being Scale developed by Ryff and Keyes (1995), loneliness was assessed using the UCLA Loneliness Scale developed by Russell (1996), and worry was measured using the Brief Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Topper et al., 2014). Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. Results revealed that loneliness was significantly and negatively correlated with overall psychological well-being and its dimensions. Worry was also negatively correlated with psychological well-being. Regression analysis indicated that loneliness significantly predicted psychological well-being, whereas worry did not significantly contribute when loneliness was controlled. The findings highlight the critical role of perceived social connectedness in promoting psychological well-being among college students.