Objective: Mental wellbeing is a fundamental aspect of the broader notion of quality of life. Little is known about the mental wellbeing of university students in general and Swedish university students in particular. As emerging adults, university students typically experience substantial changes to their living conditions, relationships, and academic stress, and depression and anxiety are prospectively associated with lower academic achievement at the end of the first year.

Methods: Data from five cross-sectional cohorts (n = 7423), collected between spring 2020 and spring 2022, were compared descriptively, regarding sociodemographic factors, lifetime and past 30-day symptoms of mental health problems, experiences of bullying, feeling loved and measures of well-being. Linear regression identified protective factors for wellbeing according to the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), and risk factors for lower wellbeing.

Results: Participants were > 70% women, 24–27 years old, 75–83% born in Sweden. About one-third had experienced physical bullying at school and about 70% felt loved and cared for. About two-thirds had medium levels of wellbeing, with one-third having low levels and about 5% having high levels. Protective factors for wellbeing included older age, male gender, feeling loved most of the time, and the grit construct. Risk factors included being an international student, non-heterosexual sexual orientation, having symptoms of depression or anxiety most of the time, and experiencing effort/reward imbalance.

Conclusions: A large proportion of students experience less than optimal wellbeing. Interventions to enhance positive, nurturing relationships and reinforce grit-related factors could support students in this challenging period of life.