Background: University students are four times more likely to experience elevated levels of psychological distress compared to their peers. Psychosocial needs of university students are associated with high psychological distress, stressful life events, and academic performance. Our study focusses on developing a measure to help universities identify these psychosocial needs. Aims: The study aimed to develop and validate the factor structure of the University Needs Instrument and identify the relationship between psychosocial needs, psychological distress, and academic performance within university students.Sample: Undergraduate university students (N = 433) currently studying at university. Method: Participants completed demographic questions, the University Needs Instrument, the Kessler-10 Psychological Distress scale, and the Stressful Life Events scale. The University Needs Instrument comprises 30 items within six psychosocial factors (academic support, financial support, support from family, support from friends, practical support, and emotional support), each consisting of five items. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all items significantly loaded on the six hypothesised factors. The hypothesised model was supported by the data displaying excellent model fit and psychometric properties. Our analysis determined that the UNI has strong internal consistency. The results also confirmed that university students’ high levels of psychological distress and their academic performance may be affected by their psychosocial needs.Conclusions: Our findings emphasise that psychosocial needs are an important underlying contributor to psychological distress and a reduction in academic performance in university students. Our findings provide an initial validation of the University Needs Instrument to measure the psychosocial needs of university students.
The association between stressful life events and depressive symptoms among Cypriot university students: a cross-sectional descriptive correlational study
