Sense of Coherence in the University Students and its Related Factors

Abstract

Purpose: The Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a core concept of Antonovsky's salutogenic model. This study aims to investigate the factors related to the SOC among university students, including socio-demographic characteristics, daily life style, personality traits, social support network, and family environments and school life from childhood to the present.
Method: The participants are 593 undergraduates at three universities in Tokyo. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis is used to examine the factors related to the SOC score.
Result: The sense of responsibility, amount of perceived social support network, self-rated family environments in childhood, and self-rated school life at junior and senior high school were positively associated with the SOC score. Female students had greater social support network, which may enable them to maintain their SOC at the same level with male students. Further, those who had grown up in supportive family were more likely to perceive their family as a source of social support, which suggests the importance of family environments in childhood. Neither religious beliefs nor Type A behavior was significantly related to the SOC score.
Conclusion: Our findings were generally consistent with previous studies. The factors related to strong SOC among university students include strong sense of responsibility, greater amount of perceived social support network, supportive family environments in childhood, and positive experiences at junior and senior high school.