Mental Health, affect and emotions in Spanish university students of Health and Social Sciences

Background: Students attending university have to adjust to a new learning context and are under increased academic pressure. The aim of the study was to assess mental health, affective status and emotions in Health Sciences and Social Sciences un-dergraduates using an explorative approach in a cross sectional study. Methods: A sample of 693 first-to-fourth-year students en-rolled in different degree courses. We used the Symptom CheckList-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and an "ad hoc" questionnaire. Results: Health status was good, although 60.9% had experienced anxiety or stress. We found no high scores on the SCL-90-R and no psychological distress. Positive affect was reported generally and for the last week, as well as emotions such as curiosity, joy, security and admiration. We found interesting relationships between gender, year group and chronic illness, where female, young students and students with chronic illness had worse mental health and psychological distress. By degree course, Social Sciences students had a worse psychological distress prognosis and Health Sciences students pre-sented an emotional profile based on pleasant and adaptive emotions, although the latter also reported the highest levels of fear. Conclusion: Preventive measures are needed in higher education to minimize anxiety, stress, mental health and maladaptive emo-tions.