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In the transition from secondary to tertiary education, first-year students experience stress due to the academic, cultural, and social environment they must adapt to. This may negatively impact their subjective well-being, which in turn may negatively influence academic performance and increase the probability of dropping out. We report findings from a two-wave online study involving first-year students enrolled in a sociology course at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Leuven (Belgium). Students completed self-report questionnaires on sociodemographic background, subjective well-being, parental relationship quality, and personality, at the start (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the first semester. 194 students (35%) completed measures at both times. Results show that subjective well-being decreased from the beginning to the end of the first semester. Well-being at university was positively, and feelings of depression negatively, related to subjective well-being at Time 1 and Time 2. Female students reported lower well-being than male students at Time 2 but not Time 1. The quality of the mother–child, but not the father–child, relationship was positively related to subjective wellbeing at Time 1 and Time 2. Please cite this article as: De Coninck, D., Matthijs, K., & Luyten, P. (2019). Subjective well-being among first-year university students: A two-wave prospective study in Flanders, Belgium. Student Success, 10(1), 33-45. doi: 10.5204/ssj.v10i1.642 This article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in Student Success. Please see the Editorial Policies under the ‘About’ section of the Journal website for further information. Student Success: A journal exploring the experiences of students in tertiary education This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. As an open access journal, articles are free to use with proper attribution. ISSN: 2205-0795 Subjective well-being among first-year university students: A two-wave prospective study in Flanders, Belgium 34 | Student Success, 10(1) March 2019 Introduction The transition from secondary to tertiary education is considered to be a source of considerable stress for university students (Dyson & Renk, 2006). Not only do they have to create new social networks, they are also expected to modify their existing relationships with family and friends, and adopt new study patterns (Chickering & Reisser, 1993; Fisher & Hood, 1987). Many students need to learn how to live independently, which entails budgeting their time and money. Literature has shown that students who fail to adapt are more likely to drop out of university than those who adjust well (Blanc, DeBuhr, & Martin, 1983; Gerdes & Mallinckrodt, 1994; Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan, & Majeski, 2004; Tinto, 1975). Research on this transition is a small field in the social sciences and psychology, and many existing studies have tended to focus on the drop out rate or the academic performance of freshmen1. Inquiries into the changes in well-being during students’ first year at university are scarce, despite findings that subjective well-being (SWB) is an important predictor of both academic performance (Garcia et al., 2015; Serrano & Andreu, 2016; Wintre et al., 2011) and drop out (Bowman, 2010; Tinto, 1987). In this study, we measure the changes in the SWB of freshmen enrolled at a large university in Flanders (Belgium) over the first three months of their academic lives. Research has amply shown that the transition to university is associated not only with higher levels of stress, but also with diminished SWB (Stewart-Brown et al., 2000). Female students are more prone to lower levels of SWB as the academic year progresses and tend to report more feelings of depression than male students (Dyson & Renk, 2006; Hardeman et al., 2015; Piko, 2000). These feelings are also more pronounced in students who lived independent of their parents during the transition and are expressed in terms of increased feelings of 1 The term freshmen is commonly referred to as a student who is in his or her first year at university or college. homesickness, insecurity, and loneliness (Fisher & Hood, 1988). Parents’ cohabitation status has also been found to matter. Young people with divorced parents are more prone to emotional problems, such as depression and anxiety and have been found to experience greater dissatisfaction with life than young people with married parents (Chappel, Suldo, & Ogg, 2014; Fergusson, McLeod, & Horwood, 2014; Mustonen, Huurre, Kiviruusu, Haukkala, & Aro, 2011; Yárnoz-Yaben & Garmendia, 2016). Weidman (1989) has identified additional factors that may influence students’ SWB in his analysis of forces external to the university undergraduate socialisation process. These include background characteristics that are external to the institution, such as socioeconomic status (SES), gender, parents’ cohabitation status, and religious affiliation, and indicators concerning parental socialisation, for example, parent–child relationship and family lifestyle (Weidman, 1989). In addition, students’ SWB has been found to be linked to student attrition or drop out (Bowman, 2010). Tinto (1975) theorised that the degree of student integration strongly predicts drop out rates. Both academic and social integration may play an important role in this regard. Academic integration includes academic marks, academic self-esteem, and students’ evaluation of the courses they are enrolled in. Social integration covers the students’ number of friends, enjoyment of university life in general, and personal contact with academic staff (Tinto, 1987). The quality of the relationship with parents may also impact well-being (Wintre & Yaffe, 2000). Mutual reciprocity between children and parents is an important feature in this regard, as studies suggest that greater reciprocity in parent–child relationships is associated with increased SWB in students (Wintre & Yaffe, 2000). Several studies have found that increased family support may have a positive impact on SWB, particularly during the De Coninck, Matthijs & Luyten Student Success, 10(1) March 2019 | 35 transition to university (Mattanah, Hancock, & Brand, 2004; Rice, Cole, & Lapsley, 1990). In addition, being able to discuss issues with parents is related to better university adjustment (Cutrona, Cole, Colangelo, Assouline, & Russell, 1994). The degree of parental control is also important, with limited control being found to be beneficial to school success (Steinberg, Elmen, & Mounts, 1989). Finally, personality is associated with SWB (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999). Extraversion and neuroticism are the two dimensions that have received the greatest attention, with extraversion usually found to be positively related to SWB, and neuroticism negatively (Pavot, Diener, & Fujita, 1990).