Factors promoting sense of coherence among university students in urban areas of Japan: individual-level social capital,self-efficacy,and mental health

Abstract

Objective:

Sense of coherence (SOC) is a concept that helps to explain the relation between personal intentionality as psychosocial factors and health-related behaviors. Thus, it is essential to enhance SOC when encouraging a healthy lifestyle. However, the factors that promote SOC have not been fully investigated among university students. The objective of this study was to clarify the general resistance resources (GRRs) that may promote the development of the SOC among university students. Therefore, we examined the relationship between SOC and social capital (SC), self-efficacy, and mental health.

Methods:

Participants included 443 students from nine academic departments at eight universities in the Kanto or Kinki metropolitan areas of Japan. Participants completed an anonymous questionnaire. Individual-level cognitive and structural SC, generalized self-efficacy, mental health inventory (from SF-36v2), and SOC were measured. Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling was conducted to verify the factor structure of the SOC-13 scale. Stepwise multiple regression analysis and two-way layout analysis of variance were performed with SOC as the dependent variable.

Results:

The factor structure of SOC indicated the optimal model fit in the second-order three-factor model of the 12 items. SOC was predicted by five variables: age, cognitive SC, structural SC, mental health, and self-efficacy. For students from urban areas, SOC was predicted by the interaction between cognitive and structural SC.

Conclusion:

SOC was significantly related to cognitive SC, structural SC, and self-efficacy as well as mental health in university students from urban areas. Furthermore, the combination of higher-level cognitive SC and higher-level structural SC exerted an inhibitory influence on SOC among students who previously and currently live in urban areas. Therefore, the findings indicated that both cognitive and structural SC as well as self-efficacy may act as GRRs that promote the development of SOC, and similarly, good mental health may promote a strong SOC.

Keywords

sense of coherence general resistance resources social capital psychosocial factors university students urban areas

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW). Health Japan 21 (the second term): Analysis and Assessment Project. Tokyo: MHLW, 2015. Available from: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/kenkou/kenkounippon21/en/kenkounippon21/mokuhyou.html (accessed 22 October 2015).

World Health Organization (WHO). World Health Statistics 2014. Geneva: WHO, 2014. Available from: http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2014/en/ (accessed 8 June 2015).

World Health Organization (WHO). World Health Statistics 2012. Geneva: WHO, 2012. Available from: http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2012/en/ (accessed 8 June 2015).

Antonovsky

Unraveling the Mystery of Health: How People Manage Stress and Stay Well. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1987.

Kadriye

Gulgin

Omer

Factors related to sense of coherence among dental students at istanbul university. J Dent Educ. 2012; 76: 774–782.

Kröninger-Jungaberle

Grevenstein

Development of salutogenetic factors in mental health – Antonovsky’ s sense of coherence and Bandura’ s self-efficacy related to Derogatis’ symptom check list (SCL-90-R). Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2013; 11: 80.

Wiesmann

Dezutter

Hannich

HJ.

Sense of coherence and pain experience in older age. Int Psychogeriatr. 2014; 26: 123–133.

Opheim

Fagermoen

Jelsness-Jørgensen

et al . Sense of coherence in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2014; 2014: 989038.

Nilsson

Leppert

Simonsson

et al . Sense of coherence (SOC) and psychological well-being (GHQ): improvement with age. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010; 64: 347–352.

10.

Erikson

EH.

Identity and The Life Cycle ( Nishihira

Nakajima

, Trans.). Tokyo: Seishin Shobo; 1980, pp.123–126.

11.

Hanibuchi

Murata

Ichida

et al . Place-specific constructs of social capital and their possible associations to health: a Japanese case study. Soc Sci Med. 2012; 75: 225–232.

12.

Putnam

RD.

Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1993, pp.163–171.

13.

Islam

Merlo

Kawachi

et al . Social capital and health: does egalitarianism matter? A literature review. Int J Equity Health. 2006; 5: 3.

14.

Lindstrӧm

Social capital and the miniaturization of community among daily and intermittent smokers: a population-based study. Prev Med. 2003; 36: 177–184.

15.

Lindström

Merlo

Östergren

PO.

Social capital and sense of insecurity in the neighbourhood: a population-based multilevel analysis in Malmö, Sweden. Soc Sci Med. 2003; 56: 1111–1120.

16.

Sherer

Maddux

Mercandante

et al . The self-efficacy scale: construction and validation. Psychol Rep. 1982; 51: 663–671.

17.

Narita

Shimonaka

Nakazato

et al . A Japanese version of the generalized self-efficacy scale: scale utility from the life-span perspective. Jpn J Educ Psychol. 1995; 43: 306–314.

18.

Fukuhara

Bito

Green

et al . Translation, adaptation, and validation of the SF- 36 Health Survey for use in Japan. J Clin Epidemiol. 1998; 51: 1037–1044.

19.

Fukuhara

Ware

Kosinski

et al . Psychometric and clinical tests of validity of the Japanese SF-36 Health Survey. J Clin Epidemiol .1998; 51: 1045–1053.

20.

Yamazaki

Salutogenesis as new perspectives on health and sense of coherence. Qual Nurs. 1999; 5: 825–832.

21.

Feldt

Leskinen

Kinnunen

et al . Longitudinal factor analysis models in the assessment of the stability of sense of coherence. Pers Individ Dif. 2000; 28: 239–257.

22.

Hittner

JB.

Factorial invariance of the 13-item sense of coherence scale across gender. J Health Psychol. 2007; 12: 273–280.

23.

Togari

Yamazaki

Nakayama

et al . Construct validity of Antonovsky’ s sense of coherence scale: stability of factor structure and predictive validity with regard to the well-being of Japanese undergraduate students from two-year follow-up date. Jpn J Health Hum Ecol. 2008; 74: 71–86.

24.

Kase

Oishi

The effects of the type A behavior pattern and sense of coherence on depressive tendencies in Japanese college students. Jpn J Personality. 2015; 24: 38–48.

25.

Lederbogen

Kirsch

Haddad

et al . City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans. Nature. 2011; 474: 498–501.

26.

Grevenstein

Bluemke

Kroeninger-Jungaberle

Incremental validity of sense of coherence, neuroticism, extraversion, and general self-efficacy: longitudinal prediction of substance use frequency and mental health. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2016; 14: 9.

27.

Bandura

Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychol Rev. 1977; 84: 191–215.

28.

Eriksson

Lindstrӧm

Antonovsky’s sense of coherence scale and the relation with health: a systematic review. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2006; 60: 376–381.

29.

Urakawa

Trend of research on sense of coherence (SOC) and health behavior in Japan: a review. Mie Nurs J. 2012; 14: 1–9.

30.

Darling

McWey

Howard

et al . College student stress: the influence of interpersonal relationships on sense of coherence. Stress Health. 2007; 23: 215–229.