Resilience as a psychological resource for quality of life among higher education staff

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31558/2786-8745.2025.2(7).4

Keywords:

quality of life, resilience, World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Questionnaire, Connor– Davidson Resilience Scale, university employees, higher education staff, psychological audit, higher education

Abstract

The article presents an empirical analysis of quality of life and resilience among employees of Vasyl` Stus Donetsk National University. The study aimed to describe the domain structure of quality of life and to examine the association between resilience and quality of life under conditions of considerable professional, educational, organizational and social pressure. Data were collected through the REDCap platform using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Questionnaire and the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. The statistical analysis included 146 complete questionnaires completed by university employees; student questionnaires were not included in the analytical dataset. The highest mean score was found in the social relationships domain (M = 62.16), and the lowest in the environment domain (M = 57.54). The mean resilience score was M = 26.03 out of 40. Resilience showed statistically significant positive associations with all quality-of-life domains, most strongly with the psychological domain (rho = 0.581; p < 0.001) and with the auxiliary integrated quality-of-life index (rho = 0.572; p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that resilience remained significantly associated with quality of life after controlling for age, sex and affiliation with the educational support staff category. The findings indicate that resilience is an important personal resource for university employees; however, the cross-sectional design does not support causal conclusions and does not allow resilience to be interpreted as a resource that compensates for deficiencies in the external conditions of the educational and organizational environment.

Author Biography

Viktoriia Overchuk, Донецький національний університет імені Василя Стуса

доктор наук, професор, директор навчально-наукового інституту психології

References

The WHOQOL Group. Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychological Medicine. 1998. Vol. 28, No. 3. P. 551–558. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291798006667

World Health Organization. WHOQOL-BREF: Ukrainian version. URL: https://www.who.int/tools/whoqol/whoqol-bref

Voloshchenko Yu. Quality of life among young people: testing the adaptation of the Ukrainian version of the WHOQOL-BREF among first-year students of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. Sport Science and Human Health. 2023. No. 2(10). P. 48–67. DOI: https://doi.org/10.28925/2664-2069.2023.24 [in Ukrainian].

Achangwa C., Lee T.-J., Park J., Lee M.-S. Quality of Life and Associated Factors of International Students in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the WHOQOL-BREF Instrument. Healthcare. 2022. Vol. 10, No. 7. Article 1262. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10071262

Mahin M. I., Rahman M. S., Rahman S. M., Ilias F. B., Hasan M. M., Akter M., et al. Factors impacting university students’ quality of life. PLOS ONE. 2025. Vol. 20, No. 8. e0329851. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329851

Connor K. M., Davidson J. R. T. Development of a new resilience scale: The Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. Depression and Anxiety. 2003. Vol. 18, No. 2. P. 76–82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/da.10113

Campbell-Sills L., Stein M. B. Psychometric analysis and refinement of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale: validation of a 10-item measure of resilience. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 2007. Vol. 20, No. 6. P. 1019–1028. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20271

Shkolina N. V., Shapoval I. I., Orlova I. V., Kedyk I. O., Stanislavchuk M. A. Adaptation and validation of the Ukrainian-language version of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale-10: testing in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Ukrainian Rheumatology Journal. 2020. No. 2(80). P. 66–72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32471/rheumatology.2707- 6970.80.15236 [in Ukrainian].

Abdelrahman H., Al Qadire M., Ballout S., Rababa M., Kwaning E. N., Zehry H. Academic Resilience and its Relationship With Emotional Intelligence and Stress Among University Students: A Three-Country Survey. Brain and Behavior. 2025. Vol. 15, No. 4. e70497. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70497

Raccanello D., Burro R., Aristovnik A., Ravšelj D., Umek L., Vicentini G., et al. Coping and emotions of global higher education students to the Ukraine war worldwide. Scientific Reports. 2024. Vol. 14. Article 8561. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59009-3

Lavrysh Y., Watanabe M., Lytovchenko I., Lukianenko V., Synekop O., Chugai O. Education as emotional support: coping, connection and resilience among Ukrainian students in wartime. Teaching in Higher Education. 2026. Vol. 31, No. 3. P. 386–407. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2026.2614962

Błaszczyk M., Kovalisko N., Pieńkowski P., Pachkovskyy Y., Ryniejska-Kiełdanowicz M. Coping with adversity: mechanisms of resilience in Ukrainian universities during the Russian-Ukrainian War – a perspective from Lviv University students. Higher Education. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-025-01506-z

Reznik A., Pavlova I., Pavlenko V., Kurapov A., Drozdov A., Korchakova N., et al. Mental health and wellbeing among Ukrainian female university students: The impact of war over 3 years. Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health. 2025. Vol. 12. e149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2025.10112

Yamchuk T. The resilience of the student community in wartime. Scientific Bulletin of Mukachevo State University. Series “Pedagogy and Psychology”. 2025. Vol. 11, No. 1. P. 19–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52534/msu-pp1.2025.19

Khomenko Ye. H. Psychological well-being of student youth in wartime. Habitus. 2023. Issue 51. P. 121–125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32782/2663-5208.2023.51.20 [in Ukrainian].

Zhyhailo N., Sholubka T. Formation of psychological resilience among higher education students during the war. Visnyk of Lviv University. Series Psychological Sciences. 2022. Issue 14. P. 3–14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30970/PS.2022.14.1 [in Ukrainian].

Yalanska S. P., Yefymenko A. R. Resilience of higher education students under conditions of full-scale war. Scientific Notes. Series: Psychology. 2025. No. 1. P. 175–181. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32782/cusu-psy-2025-1-23 [in Ukrainian].

Burovytska A. I. Features of student resilience during study in wartime. Scientific Notes. Series: Psychology. 2024. No. 2. P. 17–23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32782/cusu-psy-2024- 2-2 [in Ukrainian].

Kushneryk M., Perepeliuk T. Resources of students’ psychological adaptation to wartime conditions. Bulletin of the National Defence University of Ukraine. 2025. No. 3(85). P. 125–131. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33099/2617-6858-2025-85- 3-125-131 [in Ukrainian].

Brintseva O. The Impact of War on Ukrainian Universities: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis and PostWar Recovery Strategies. Higher Education Quarterly. 2026. Vol. 80, No. 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.70113

Pustovoichenko D., Matkivskyi M., Petrovska K., Kornieva I., Solomakha O. Education and Resilience in the Context of War: Challenges and Solutions in Ukraine. Futurity Education. 2024. Vol. 4, No. 4. P. 240–256. DOI: https://doi.org/10.57125/FED.2024.12.25.16

Kupenko O., Kostenko A., Kalchenko L., Pehota O., Kubatko O. Resilience and vulnerability of a person in a community in the context of military events. Problems and Perspectives in Management. 2023. Vol. 21, No. 1. P. 154–168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(1).2023.14

Reznikova O., Korniievskyi O. Resilience of the Ukrainian society in wartime: components and influencing factors. Eastern Journal of European Studies. 2024. Vol. 15, No. 1. P. 113–133. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47743/ejes-2024- 0105

Russo-Netzer P., Tarrasch R., Saar-Ashkenazy R., Guez J. Meaning and resilience in war-affected populations during crisis. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2025. Vol. 16. Article 1678205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1678205

Abuejheisheh A. J., et al. Anxiety, depression, stress, and resilience among undergraduate nursing students at AlQuds University: the impact of war started on October 7 in Palestine. BMC Nursing. 2024. Vol. 23. Article 784. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02442-6

Rahman M. A., Das P., Lam L., et al. Health and wellbeing of staff working at higher education institutions globally during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period: evidence from a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2024. Vol. 24. Article 1848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024- 19365-1

Koster M., McHenry K. Areas of work-life that contribute to burnout among higher education health science faculty and perception of institutional support. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. 2023. Vol. 18, No. 1. Article 2235129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2023.2235129

Cao B., Che Hassan N., Omar M. K. Interventions to reduce burnout among university lecturers: A systematic literature review. Behavioral Sciences. 2025. Vol. 15, No. 5. Article 649. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15050649

Harris P. A., Taylor R., Thielke R., Payne J., Gonzalez N., Conde J. G. Research electronic data capture – a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. Journal of Biomedical Informatics. 2009. Vol. 42, No. 2. P. 377–381. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2008.08.010

Harris P. A., Taylor R., Minor B. L., Elliott V., Fernandez M., O’Neal L., et al. The REDCap consortium: building an international community of software platform partners. Journal of Biomedical Informatics. 2019. Vol. 95. Article 103208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103208

Downloads

Published

2025-12-25

How to Cite

[1]
Overchuk, V. 2025. Resilience as a psychological resource for quality of life among higher education staff. Bulletin of Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University. Series «Psychological sciences». (Dec. 2025), 63-89. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31558/2786-8745.2025.2(7).4.

Issue

Section

Psychology of activity in special conditions