Happiness Index of Undergraduate Students of Air University, Islamabad a Cross Section Study

Abstract

Objectives: To calculate the happiness score of Air University students using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, along with a structured questionnaire to associate the factors that affect it.

Materials & Methods: This was analytical cross sectional study conducted at Air University, after IRB approval. Students from age of 18 to 26 years were included after consent. Data was collected through simple random sampling. SPSS was used for data entry and analysis. Descriptive analysis was done by calculating percentages, frequencies, standard deviation and inferential analysis was done by doing cross tabulation and chi square testing.

Results: Happiness score was calculated using oxford happiness questionnaire, 185 respondents (52.9%) fell into the category of not particularly happy and 113 (32.3%) pretty happy. Significant associations were found between happiness level and frequency of sleep, social interaction, better grades of physically active students, eating healthy food, 3 meals a day, time spent in physical activities per week, quality of sleep, hours of socializing with friends per week, improvement in life by use of technology and academic score of students at p-values 0.000, 0.000, 0.003, 0.005, 0.000, 0.026, 0.000, 0.002, 0.001 and 0.025 respectively.

Conclusions: Study concluded that happiness level is strongly associated with important parameters of life like healthy food, social interaction, sleep, physical activities and academic score.