Relationships among Trait Resilience, Meaning in Life, and Psychological Problems of Study Abroad Scholarship Students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine relationships among trait-resilience, meaning in life, and psychological problems (stress anxiety and depression) of study abroad scholarship students. Participants comprised 335 scholarship students living abroad. Their mean age was 30+6.24 Instruments included the Ego-resiliency Questionnaire, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Data were collected using online questionnaires analyzed using multiple regressions. Findings revealed that trait resilience and meaning in life (presence of meaning in life and search for meaning) significantly predicted stress and accounted for 22.1% of the total variance of stress (R² = 0.221, p <0.01), for 15.6% of the total variance of anxiety  (R² = 0.156, p <0.01) and for 39.5% of the total variance of depression (R²= 0.395, p <0.01) Trait-resilience was a significant predictor of stress, anxiety and depression (β =-0.284, β = -0.236, β =-0.227, p <0.01). Meaning in life (presence of meaning in life) was a significant predictor of stress, anxiety and depression (β = 0.222, β = 0.155, β =0.123,  p <0.01). Meaning in life (search for meaning) was a significant predictor of stress, anxiety and depression (β = -0.198, β =-0.188, β =-0.473, p < 0.01)