Subjective Well-being and Mental Health in College Students from Ecuador. Latent Relationship Analysis with SEM

Abstract

Objective. To identify the level of latent relationship between Subjective Well-being and Mental Health in a sample of university students from Ecuador. Method. A descriptive, correlational and transversal study by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was conducted. The sample consisted of 476 people (61.5% women and 38.4% men), aged between 17 and 47 years (M= 21.24; SD=3.65). They were University students from 34 higher education centers in 10 provinces of Ecuador. Results. Subjective Well-being (Positive, Negative Affect and Satisfaction with Life) is latently related to Mental Health through an adequate adjustment model. Furthermore, the SEM model is gender invariant. Finally, there are differences (p<.05) between groups for negative affect and symptoms of anxiety/insomnia, depression, and general mental health. Subjective well-being is a psychological attribute that plays a relevant role in the course and development of mental health.