Components and predictors of psychological wellbeing in young adults

Abstract

Psychological wellbeing (PWB), which refers to the overall healthy functioning of a person, is a crucial asset. It is a combination of effective functioning and feeling good of one's surroundings. To achieve and maintain PWB is very important for any stages of life, especially for young adult (YA). YA go through multiple significant transitions in life. They also receive lesser amount of intervention to maintain their emotional and psychological health. Stresses from a wide range of sources affect their PWB. This study wanted to discover various aspects of PWB in the life of the YAs. The main aim of the current study was to discover the components and predictors of YAs' PWB and develop an effective intervention program to enhance their PWB. The study was carried out in three different stages. A mixed-method design was implemented to conduct the study. The 42 items Ryff's Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWBS) was chosen in the first stage for its optimal usability to measure PWB. It needed to be adapted for the Bangladeshi population before conducting the study using this tool. So, in the first stage the adaptation took place. The English and Bangla PWBS had a significant positive correlation (r = 0.6, p < 0.05), indicating high parallel form reliability. The expert agreement over the content of the Bangla PWBS (BPWBS) as well as the outcome of the factor analytic procedure, ensure the content and construct validity of the instrument. Then the BPWBS was administered to a 301-representative sample of YA in the second stage. The goal of the second stage was to identify the factors related with PWB. Purposive sampling technique was used in this stage. Comparative analysis of those survey data was used to identify potential predictors of PWB. Demographic predictors such as gender, age, birth order, socioeconomic status, marital status, physical illness, and mental illness had no significant (p > 0.05) difference in means. Thus, the conclusion was these demographic variables are not a reliable source to predict someone's PWB. Finally, the current study aimed to create an effective intervention program to improve YAs' PWB in the final stage. To achieve the goal, a pre and post-test study was designed and carried out. The measurement results show that there is a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores in the autonomy (p = 0.04), personal growth (p = 0.03), positive relationship (p = 0.00), and self-acceptance (p =0.00) subscales. So, we can conclude that, psychological interventions have a significant impact on improving wellbeing on those specific measures. These findings reinforce the six-factor model of psychological well-being by Ryff (1989) in the design of PWB program for YAs.