Investigation of Relationship Between Subjective Health and Lifestyle among Academics at Higher Educations in the Carpathian Basin

Abstract

Our study investigates the relationships between workplace stress sources and resources, and health-related lifestyle factors (physical activity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, nutrition) and subjective health status among academics working in higher education institutions across five countries (Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, and Romania). Our main research questions are as follows: What is the relationship between sources of workplace stress, available resources, and subjective health status? How does physical activity and participation in university sports affect the health of academics? What correlations can be found with other health behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, health-conscious eating)?

For our analysis, we used data from the CEETHE 2023 survey, which involved mapping the characteristics of academic work through an online questionnaire conducted among academics in higher education institutions in Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, and Serbia (N=821). In Hungary, two disadvantaged regions were included, while in the other countries, primarily ethnic Hungarian faculty as well as those in majority-language institutions were surveyed in both Hungarian and the official state language.

Our findings indicate that regular physical activity, conscious nutrition, and workengagement contribute to better subjective health status, while emotional exhaustion at work, work-life conflicts, and workplace harassment negatively affect it.