Social support, resilience, and psychological well-being among postgraduate students of Makerere University

Abstract

Postgraduate education is often marked by intense academic demands and personal stress, placing students at risk for poor psychological well-being. This study investigated the relationship between social support, resilience, and psychological well-being among postgraduate students, with a specific focus on the moderating role of resilience. A crosssectional research design was employed, and data were collected from a sample of 356 postgraduate students drawn from the ten colleges of Makerere University using cluster sampling. Standardized self-report questionnaires were used to measure the study variables. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Descriptive statistics summarized demographic information and variable distributions. To address the first three objectives, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among social support, resilience, and psychological well-being. To address the fourth objective, PROCESS Macro moderation analysis was used to test the interaction effect of resilience on the relationship between social support and psychological well-being. The results showed that both social support and resilience were significantly and positively associated with psychological well-being. Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated the relationship between social support and psychological well-being, such that the effect of social support on well-being was stronger among students with higher resilience levels. These findings indicate that resilience enhances the protective benefits of social support in promoting mental health. The study highlights the importance of strengthening both external and internal resources among postgraduate students. It recommends that universities integrate resilience-building interventions within student support programs to enhance coping and psychological well-being in the face of academic and personal challenge

Keyword: Psychological well-being