Exploring the psychological well-being of postgraduate accounting students at a South African university

Abstract

The challenges associated with higher education studies can impact significantly on the psychological well-being of students and can influence their academic success, even leading to anxiety, stress and depression. Factors influencing academic success in postgraduate accounting students have been well researched, but a dearth of literature exists on their psychological well-being. This knowledge gap necessitated an investigation into the psychological well-being of postgraduate accounting students at a South African university. In this descriptive study, a self-compiled demographic questionnaire, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the Zung Self-rating Anxiety and Depression Scales were used for data collection.

A total of 115 postgraduate accounting students participated in this study. Students reported a high level of support from family and friends, but their vigour and absorption regarding their full-time studies were merely average. Self-reported anxiety and depression scores indicated mild to moderate anxiety (28.7%), marked to severe anxiety (7.4%), mild to moderate depression (42.4%) and severe depression (17.2%) amongst participants. Study-related issues led to 10% of participants receiving psychological and/or psychiatric treatment and 5% using psychiatric medication. This study creates awareness of and proposes practical measures to enhance the psychological well-being of postgraduate accounting students to ultimately support academic success.

Keywords:

• anxiety
• depression
• postgraduate accounting students
• psychological well-being
• student support

Disclosure statement

The authors acknowledge that no financial interest or benefit arose from the direct applications of this research.