Abstract

This study investigated the effect of students’ safety orientation on their physical, mental, psychological, and academic wellbeing in selected government-owned tertiary institutions in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A mixed-methods research design was adopted, combining quantitative survey and qualitative focus group discussions. The population comprised undergraduate students from eight selected tertiary institutions, with a sample size of 1,025 respondents for the quantitative phase and 18 participants for the qualitative phase. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and focus group discussion guide. The questionnaire was validated by experts and reliability was established using Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions, while simple linear regression analysis was employed to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed significant effects of students’ safety orientation on physical wellbeing (R = 0.684), mental health wellbeing (R=0.712), psychological wellbeing (R = 0.698), and academic wellbeing. Safety orientation accounted for substantial variance in students’ wellbeing outcomes, and all null hypotheses were rejected. Qualitative findings corroborated the quantitative results, indicating that safety orientation enhances students’ confidence, reduces anxiety, and improves academic engagement. The study concludes that safety orientation is a critical determinant of students’ holistic wellbeing and academic success. It recommends institutionalization of comprehensive safety orientation programmes in tertiary institutions