COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AS PREDICTOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AS PREDICTOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Summary/Abstract: The American Psychological Association (APA) defines Community engagement as the efforts made by individuals and groups to address public issues. This includes activities such as volunteering, joining political parties, collaborating with others, and working with institutions to find community solutions. In the field of developmental psychology, Community engagement is seen as an essential aspect of positive youth development. There has been a growing interest in studying the factors that promote and enhance civic participation, emphasizing its role in contributing to civil society. The current study involved an assessment of psychological wellbeing of university students who volunteer in community activities. The study sample comprising 508 college students between 18-24 years of age were assessed. Psychometric assessments included measuring Community engagement as Civic engagement in 2 factors namely civic attitudes and civic behaviours. Psychological well-being is measured as 6 factors namely autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance and Overall PWB. Civic engagement Scale (Doolittle, 2013) and psychological well-being Scale- Short form (Ryff, 2007) was used to study the variables. The hypothesis that Community engagement will significantly predict high levels of psychological well-being was supported. The results revealed a significant high level of psychological well- being of its 6 factors among students who engaged in community activities. Civic Attitudes (β = 0.35, p = .001) and Civic Behaviours (β = 0.30, p = .008) are significant predictors of Overall Psychological Wellbeing. The conclusion of the study is that Community engagement has the potential to impact changes on psychological well-being and its dimension and it emerges as a major predictor.

• Details
• Contents