A scoping review of factors associated with Australian university student wellbeing

Abstract

Universities have a social obligation to support student wellbeing. Given that university experiences differ across countries, synthesising student wellbeing research within specific national contexts can assist policy makers in identifying research most relevant to local students. A scoping review was conducted to (i) map the factors associated with Australian university student wellbeing, (ii) identify knowledge gaps, and (iii) assess the response rates reported in this literature. 160 studies were included in the review. Associations were reported between wellbeing and 242 different factors. Factors were thematically grouped into psychological, social, demographic, university-specific, lifestyle, aversive life-events, and work-related/financial categories. Several knowledge gaps were identified. These included: Inconsistent wellbeing measurement, non-representative sampling, limited understanding of university-specific factors, limited research identifying at-risk student groups, and absence of interventional studies addressing features of university environments or experiences. Excluding whole-of-university studies, the average response rate was 37.7%, although response rates were lower in online surveys (24.8%) and in studies recruiting whole-of-university samples (5.6%). In-class surveys received the highest response rates (57.3%). Further research is needed to address knowledge gaps identified in this review.