Sultan Qaboos University Hospital Al Seeb, Al Khoudh, SQUH, 123, Muscat, Oman.
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 29;14(1):29685. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80999-7.
This study investigated the personal and academic factors associated with the presence and search for meaning in life among college students in Oman. A cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2021. A self-reported survey comprising the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and a sociodemographic questionnaire was completed by 970 students at the National University of Science and Technology in Oman. We used multiple linear regression to explore the independent predictors. Compared with engineering students, medical students were found to have a higher degree of both the presence of meaning in life as well as the search for meaning in life (p-value 0.001), and with each advancing academic year, the presence of meaning in life was found to be lower (p-value = 0.002). Students with chronic physical disease had a lower degree of presence of meaning in life and a lower degree of search for meaning in life (p = 0.001) compared with those without chronic disease. In addition, mental illness was associated with a lower degree of presence of meaning in life (p-value 0.001) and financial strain was associated with a lower degree of presence of meaning in life (p-value = 0.001). In conclusion, no prior research demonstrated higher levels of meaning in life among medicine major students compared to those in engineering or pharmacy majors. Moreover, other academic, socio-economic, and health-related factors correlated with individuals' sense of meaning & search in life. Therefore, psychologists and psychiatrists should consider these diverse factors when designing interventions to support individuals in exploring and enhancing their meaning in life, considering their unique needs and contexts.
本研究调查了阿曼大学生生活意义的存在和寻找与其个人和学术因素的关系。本研究采用横断面研究方法，于 2021 年 4 月对阿曼国家科技大学的 970 名学生进行了一项包含生活意义问卷（MLQ）和社会人口学问卷的自我报告调查。我们使用多元线性回归来探讨独立的预测因素。与工程专业的学生相比，医学专业的学生在生活意义的存在和寻找方面的程度都更高（p 值 0.001），并且随着学业年级的提高，生活意义的存在程度降低（p 值 0.002）。与没有慢性疾病的学生相比，患有慢性躯体疾病的学生生活意义的存在程度较低，生活意义的寻找程度也较低（p = 0.001）。此外，精神疾病与生活意义的存在程度较低相关（p 值 0.001），经济压力与生活意义的存在程度较低相关（p 值 = 0.001）。总之，没有先前的研究表明医学专业的学生比工程或药学专业的学生生活意义程度更高。此外，其他学术、社会经济和与健康相关的因素与个体的意义感和生活追求相关。因此，心理学家和精神科医生在设计干预措施以支持个体探索和增强生活意义时，应考虑这些不同的因素，同时考虑到他们的独特需求和背景。
