Examining The Effects of a Biopsychosocial Approach To Psychological Wellbeing in Higher Education.

The thesis investigates the integrated impact of psychological, physiological, and social factors on the wellbeing and academic performance of university students. Grounded in the Biopsychosocial Model (BPSM) and the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) and its revised form (TCTSA-R), the research explores how students’ cognitive appraisals of personal resources, social identity, perceived social support, and irrational beliefs influence their stress responses, wellbeing, and academic outcomes within the higher education context.

The thesis comprises three quantitative empirical studies. The first study uses a large-scale longitudinal survey over an academic year, demonstrating that high self-efficacy, perceived social support, and lower irrational beliefs predict better psychological wellbeing, while different patterns of goal orientations and self-efficacy predict students’ self-reported expected academic performance. Findings also reveal a decline in wellbeing and university social identity over time.

The second study integrates psychophysiological measures by assessing cardiovascular indices of challenge and threat responses in close temporal proximity to a graded presentation assessment. While cardiovascular reactions were successfully measured, the expected associations between these physiological markers and psychological resource appraisals, social factors, irrational beliefs, and performance outcomes were weak or nonsignificant. Nevertheless, self-efficacy remained a consistent predictor of wellbeing and performance expectations, and irrational beliefs predicted emotional experience. These results indicate the complexity of translating physiological stress responses into predictions of academic performance.

The third study evaluates the effects of a coping-oriented personal disclosure mutual sharing (COPDMS) intervention delivered early in the academic year to facilitate social connection and coping resource enhancement. The intervention did not produce significant group differences in social identification, psychosocial resources, or wellbeing compared to a control group. Notably, participants demonstrated cardiovascular activation indicative of engagement; however, this did not translate into improved wellbeing or positive affect. Qualitative feedback highlighted mixed emotional experiences but generally increased connectedness and empathy among participants.

Overall, the thesis advances knowledge by applying and integrating biopsychosocial theoretical models to the field of higher education, highlighting the pivotal role of self-efficacy and social support in psychological wellbeing, the nuanced role of physiological stress responses, and the challenges of producing immediate wellbeing improvements through brief psychosocial interventions. The research highlights the importance of considering the complex interactions among cognitive appraisals, social identity, and physiological reactivity in supporting student success and wellbeing. The findings inform future theory development and suggest directions for designing scalable, contextually sensitive interventions to enhance student coping and academic performance.