Purpose of the Survey

The Uni Student Wellbeing (USW) Survey aims to investigate and document the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress and positive wellbeing among young adults in Australian higher education, paying attention to the distinct characteristics of diverse educational environments in Australia’s universities. In doing this, we aim to establish prevalence baselines for student wellbeing in Australian higher education, enabling future innovations to be assessed and emerging trends and issues to be identified.

The research questions guiding the Survey are:

  1. What are the institutional and course-related factors associated with undergraduate students’ mental health and wellbeing?
  2. How do key academic experiences foster (or undermine) students’ psychological and emotional wellbeing, and how do these experiences vary among students from diverse backgrounds? 

The Survey is designed to equip Australian higher education providers with robust and timely insights into the psychological wellbeing and associated academic experiences of their undergraduate students. It asks undergraduate students to rate dimensions of their mental health, wellbeing and academic experiences. It also elicits information about students’ life responsibilities, socio-demographic backgrounds, undergraduate experiences and study challenges. 

The Survey aims to build an evidence-base to inform universities’ policy, programming and resourcing decisions related to student mental health and wellbeing. Participating institutions receive a customised report of key findings about the specific needs and experiences of students with varying levels of psychological distress and wellbeing. In addition to these institutional benefits, participation in the project contributes to national and international research investigating university environmental ‘settings’ that best support the mental health and wellbeing of young people from diverse backgrounds. If your institution is interested in participating in the Survey, please contact the project manager Dr Tracii Ryan (tracii.ryan@unimelb.edu.au).

Our study adopts an ecological or ‘settings-based’ approach to mental health and wellbeing in the university context. Rather than focusing solely on individual behaviours or interventions, our study considers how aspects of the university environment, including academic courses, support systems, social connections, and everyday practices influence student mental health and wellbeing.

At a broad level, our study has been shaped by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000), which posits that regular experiences of autonomy, competence and relatedness foster autonomous motivation and engagement for activities leading to enhanced performance, persistence and wellbeing. In university learning environments, students’ psychological needs can be satisfied when academic curricular and learning experiences are designed to scaffold and enhance students’ competencies, encourage and support autonomy, facilitate close relationships, and foster a sense of belonging and purpose. The study explores common course and university experiences and their relationship with students’ mental health and wellbeing.

Our study is also informed by Expectancy Value Theory (Wigfield and Eccles, 2000), which emphasises that students’ beliefs about their ability to succeed (expectancy) and their interest in, and perceived usefulness or importance of the task or outcomes (value) influences their academic choices, motivation and engagement. Drawing on this framework, our study explores students’ self-efficacy including confidence to complete their course, and their perceptions of course value. Theoretical and empirical research in the ‘positive psychology’ tradition has shown that, to flourish, individuals need regular experiences of striving, growth, connectedness to others, and meaning in life (Huppert & Whittington, 2003; Keyes, 2007). These positive psychological experiences are not only valuable to wellbeing; they also ‘buffer’ the psychological impacts of negative emotions and stress, reducing ill-being. Indeed, recent research indicates that psychological problems such as depression and anxiety may be addressed more effectively by increasing population wellbeing than by directly seeking to treat or prevent ill-being.

Understanding that wellbeing is more than the absence of symptoms of ill-being, the Survey captures dimensions of wellbeing that are not simply the opposite of negative affect (low mood) or psychological distress.

The Survey explores mental ill-health by measuring anxiety and depressive symptoms – the most common forms of mental health difficulties. A measure of non-specific psychological distress is also included to identify students at risk of experiencing mental health difficulties.

Our Survey explores positive mental wellbeing by measuring flourishing (psychological functioning and emotional wellbeing) and life satisfaction. The selected measures of these constructs explore students’ psychological, emotional and social wellbeing (Keyes, 2002), rather than factors that may influence it, such as standard of living, physical health or personal safety.

Which scales are used to measure student mental health and wellbeing?

The Survey includes:

  • Diener’s Flourishing Scale (FS; Diener et al., 2009)
  • The 2-item version of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-2; Kroenke et al., 2007; Spitzer et al., 2006)
  • The 2-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2; Kroenke et al., 2003
  • The 6-item version of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6; Kessler et al., 2002)

These scales have strong psychometric properties and they are widely used in non-clinical surveys with higher education students. They are all freely available and their relative brevity means that distinct aspects of mental health and wellbeing can be assessed without unduly burdening participants. Further information is provided in the table below.

Scales measuring student mental health and wellbeing in the USW Survey

Scale No of Items What it Measures Example Item Response Options
Psychological Wellbeing
FS 8 Psychological and emotional wellbeing including sense of purpose, positive relationships, and self-acceptance. ‘I am engaged and interested in my daily activities’ 7-point Likert scale: 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree)
Anxiety, depressive symptoms and psychological distress
GAD-2 2 Frequency of symptoms of common anxiety disorders over the past two weeks ‘Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problem: Not being able to stop or control worrying?’ 4-point Likert scale: 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day)
PHQ-2 2 Frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks ‘Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problem: Little interest or pleasure in doing things?’ 4-point Likert scale: 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day)
K6 6 Frequency of symptoms of non-specific psychological distress indicating risk for mental illness in the general population ‘During the past 4 weeks, about how often did you feel nervous?’ 5-pt Likert scale: 4 (All of the time) to 0 (None of the time)

Which academic experiences influence mental wellbeing?

Our previous empirical research (e.g., Larcombe et al., 2021), informed by SDT and a theory of educational motivation, Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT, see Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), has identified seven high-impact academic experiences that satisfy (or thwart) university students’ psychological needs for relatedness, autonomy, and competence, and so build (or tax) academic motivation. In combination, these seven academic experiences- sense of belonging at uni, academic stress, course value, academic self-efficacy, teacher support, peer engagement, uni climate- appear to play a key role in supporting (or undermining) university students’ psychological and emotional wellbeing. We refer to them as dimensions of – or necessary conditions for – ‘academic wellbeing’.

Which scales are used to measure students’ academic wellbeing?

In researching ‘academic wellbeing’ we have intentionally investigated student experiences that are directly influenced by institutions – through policy settings, teaching and learning practices, and curriculum design – so that these experiences can be targeted for improvement or intervention. We also focus on academic experiences that are common to all university students so that wellbeing interventions targeting these experiences are likely to have the widest possible reach.

The scales included in the USW Survey are presented in the table below.

Scales measuring students’ academic wellbeing in the USW Survey

Measured Construct Description Example Item
Sense of Belonging at Uni Sense that the uni is a good ‘fit’ and that one ‘belongs’ ‘I feel at home at this University’
Academic Stress Extent to which a student experiences emotional reactions (prompted by assessment tasks and workload pressures) that impair a student’s ability to perform well ‘I feel helpless and out of control when I sit an exam or give a presentation’
Course Value Level of personal interest or enjoyment derived from academic study, as well as anticipation of future benefits from completing the current course of study ‘I am really interested in what I am studying’
Academic Self-Efficacy Expectancy and experiences of academic competence ‘I believe I am a capable student’
Teacher Support Perceptions of the extent to which teachers care about and motivate students’ learning ‘My teachers make a real effort to understand the difficulties students may be having with their work’
Peer Engagement Extent to which students are academically and socially engaged with peers ‘If I have questions about a topic I am studying, I ask other students for help’
Uni Climate Perceptions of the extent to which the Uni cares about students and their wellbeing ‘At [Uni name] I feel that students’ concerns are listened to’

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.

Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., et al. (2009). New measures of well-being: Flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 39, 247-266.

Huppert, F.A., & Whittington, J.E. (2003). Evidence for the independence of positive and negative well-being: Implications for quality-of-life assessment. British Journal of Health Psychology, 8(1), 107–122

Keyes, C. L. (2002). The Mental Health Continuum: From Languishing to Flourishing in Life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43, 207-222.

Keyes, C. L. M. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health. American Psychologist, 62(2), 95–108.

Kessler R.C., Andrews G., Colpe L.J., et al. (2002). Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 32, 959–976.

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: validity of a two-item depression screener. Medical care, 41(11), 1284–1292. 

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R.L., Williams, J.B., et al., (2007). Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Annals of Internal Medicine, 146 (5), 317–325.

Larcombe, W., Baik, C., & Finch, S. (2021). Exploring course experiences that predict psychological distress and mental wellbeing in Australian undergraduate and graduate coursework students. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(2), 420–435. 

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-Determination Theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 68–78.

Sheldon, K.M., Turban, D.B., Brown, K.G., Barrick, M.R. and Judge, T.A. (2003). Applying Self-Determination Theory to organisational research. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 22, 357-393.

Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092–1097.

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25 (1), 68-81.