Conceptualization and measurement of students’ momentary mental well-being states: A scoping review

Students in higher education frequently report mental well-being (MWB) challenges that fluctuate throughout the day, highlighting the need to capture their momentary MWB states. However, there is no consensus on how to conceptualize or measure these states in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies. This scoping review aims to address this gap by examining the existing literature on students’ MWB in an EMA context. A comprehensive literature search was conducted until January 2026, and a total of 92 unique studies and 243 unique momentary MWB variables were included. The majority of variables (75%) focused on hedonic well-being, while the remainder was classified as eudaimonic well-being (e.g., social and psychological well-being) or as a combination of the two. Variables were typically assessed once daily, analyzed as single items, and inconsistently evaluated for reliability and validity. Eudaimonic variables were more often detailed and developed for the study specifically than hedonic ones. The findings reveal a dominance of hedonic measures in EMA research on students’ MWB, while momentary eudaimonic measures, though increasingly recognized, remain less common. To fully capture students’ MWB, future research should address this imbalance and include both hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions.