Student Functioning, Concerns, and Socio-Personal Well-Being

The following study used the Student Quality of Life and Satisfaction (SQOLAS) instrument and 467 University of Rhode Island undergraduate and graduate students as participants in order to examine relationships among functioning and performance variables, student concern and importance areas, and measures of socio-personal satisfaction and well-being. Canonical correlational analysis revealed two statistically significant canonical correlations between a student functioning/performance variable set and a concern/importance area variable set. A set of variables related to increased concern and importance ratings of socio-sexual behavior, and decreased ratings of crime, violence, multicultural, and gender issues was significantly associated with a second set of variables: increased levels of alcohol use and associated negative consequences, younger age, increased mental health concerns, men more than women, decreased class year, and less positive ratings toward direction in life. Standard multiple regression analysis produced a statistically significant model where positive attitude towards direction in life can be predicted by higher levels of socio-personal satisfaction and deep metacognitive processing, and lower levels of alcohol use and associated negative consequences, and fewer mental health concerns. Implications of the results are discussed in relation to theories of cognitive behavior, phenomenological functioning, life meaning, and well-being.