Stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors of undergraduate students in a Thai university during COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

Background: University students are an essential human resource for national development. Thus, it is important to study the stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors of these students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: This study aimed to identify stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors and examine the relationship between these factors in undergraduate students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: The current study was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design. A total of 416 undergraduate students in a Thai university were selected using a convenience sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to collect the data on stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors of undergraduate students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Results: This study indicated that stress was at a high level (3.54 ± .53; Mean ± SD), adversity quotient was at a high level (3.77 ± .63; Mean ± SD), and health behaviors were at a moderate level (3.06 ± .53; Mean ± SD). The current study also found that stress and adversity quotient were irrelevant. Stress and health behaviors were negatively correlated with a level of significance of .01 (r = -.31), and adversity quotient and health behaviors were positively correlated with a level of significance of .01 (r = .051). Conclusion: It is suggested that healthcare providers, families, and professors should consider stress and adversity quotient in developing interventions to promote healthy behaviors in terms of physical and psychological factors in university students.

Keywords

• stress
• adversity quotient
• health behaviors
• covid-19
• outbreak
• undergraduate students