The relationships between psychosocial factors and physical and mental health in English and Turkish first-year university students

Background: There has been extensive research on associations between psychosocial factors, such as stress and social support, and physical and mental health. Less is known about cultural differences in such effects, which were examined in the present study by comparing university students in England and Turkey. Methods: Two hundred and seventeen first-year university students from Turkey and 76 first-year university students from England participated in this study. They completed questionnaires measuring perceived social support (the Interpersonal Self-Evaluation List), daily hassles, perceived stress, emotional distress, fatigue, cognitive difficulties, somatic symptoms and mood states. Results: The results showed significant differences between English and Turkish first-year university students in most psycho-social factors and outcome measures. The Turkish sample generally reported a more negative profile. However, the results also indicated that both countries had similar associations between psychosocial factors and health. Conclusions: Cross-cultural differences in psychosocial predictors and health outcomes were observed in the present study. However, similar psychosocial models were present in both countries.