Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Gender-Neutral Bathrooms On Campus: A Multicampus Study Of Cisgender And Transgender And Gender Diverse College Students, Merle Huff, Katie Edwards, Victoria Mauer, Heather Littleton, Stephanie Lim, Kayla E. Sall

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study examined cisgender and transgender and gender diverse (TGD) college students’ perceptions of gender-neutral bathroom availability across eight U.S. campuses, TGD students’ fear of harassment related to (lack of) availability of gender-neutral bathrooms, and the relation between fear of harassment and TGD students’ psychological distress.

Methods: Participants were 4,328 college students (4,195 cisgender, 30 binary transgender, 103 gender diverse) from eight U.S. institutions of higher education.

Results: The majority (84.2%) of TGD students and 34.6% of cisgender students perceived there were too few gender-neutral bathrooms on their campus. Further, TGD students’ fear of harassment related to a lack …

Covid‑Specific Coercive Control Among Emerging Adults Attending College: A Brief Note, Heather Littleton, Katie Edwards, Kayla E. Sall, Stephanie Lim, Victoria Mauer

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a “perfect storm” with regards to risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Abusive partners may engage in novel forms of coercive control, such as pressuring their partner to engage in activities associated with COVID-19 infection risk (e.g., attend a large gathering). However, no empirical research has focused on COVIDspecific coercive control. The current study sought to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-specific coercive control in a large sample of U.S. college students, as well as its association with other forms of IPV and depression and anxiety. A total of 2,289 undergraduate students attending eight U.S. universities who …

Mental Health Outcomes Of Discrimination Among College Students On A Predominately White Campus: A Prospective Study, Joseph C. Jochman, Jacob E. Cheadle, Bridget J. Goosby, Cara Tomaso, Chelsea Kozikowski, Timothy Nelson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Racial discrimination is a social stressor harmful to mental health. In this paper, we explore the links between mental health and interpersonal discrimination-related social events, exposure to vicarious racism via social media, and rumination on racial injustices using a daily diary design. We utilize data from a racially diverse sample of 149 college students with 1,489 unique time observations at a large, predominantly white university. Results show that interpersonal discrimination-related social events predicted greater self-reported anger, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and loneliness both daily and on average over time. Vicarious racism from day to day was associated with increased anxiety symptoms. …

Differences In Retention-Related Risk Factors And Potential Resources Across First-Generation And Non-First-Generation College Students, Taylor Lofdahl

Honors Theses

This study was completed to examine the differences in experience of first-generation and non-first-generation college students both before and during college. The purpose focused on retention-related risk factors as well as potential resources. The study was conducted through an online survey system called Qualtrics. There were 246 participants from the psychology department of the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, and participants received research credits for completing the survey. The study included measures for stress, depression symptoms, anxiety, perceived support as well as questions regarding academic practices and biographical information. The results of the study were analyzed using SPSS software, and they …

Financial Socialization Of College Students: Domain-General And Domain-Specific Perspectives, Ji Hyun Kim, Julia C. Torquati

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This study investigated the association of domain-general and domain-specific parenting practices with college students’ financial attitudes and behaviors. Data came from a survey of college students (n = 585, 156 males) aged 19–32 attending a Midwestern University. Parents’ financial behaviors significantly predicted college students’ financial attitudes. Path analysis indicated that college students’ financial attitudes mediated the association between their perceptions of parents’ financial behaviors and their own financial behaviors. Parental avoidance of financial conversation was inversely associated with college students’ financial attitudes, and parental disclosure of financial information was positively associated with college students’ financial attitudes. Family communication pattern significantly …

Examining The Reasons For Student Responses To Threatening Behaviors On A College Campus, Heath J. Hodges, Elizabeth C. Low, M. Rosa Viñas-Racionero, Brandon A. Hollister, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Underreporting criminal activity to authorities can pose significant challenges, particularly within college campuses. Crime prevention teams have recognized the importance of reporting potentially concerning behaviors that may precede violent acts. However, reasons for reporting preincident behaviors have been understudied among college samples and failed to account for informal responses, such as talking to third parties or changing personal security features. The present study surveyed 1,075 students from a midwestern state university and evaluated their awareness of threatening or concerning behaviors on campus, response behaviors, and reasons for either acting on or failing to report preincident behaviors. Findings reflected reporting rates …

The Educational Potential Of Alcohol-Related Flushing Among Chinese Young People, Ian M. Newman, Duane F. Shell, Zhaoqing Huang, Ling Qian

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Aim: This paper describes Chinese university students’ understanding of the meaning of the alcohol-related flushing response and how they reacted to their own and someone else’s flushing in a group drinking situation. Method: The researcher surveyed 530 Chinese university students about their understanding of flushing and their perception of how people respond to a person who visibly flushes while drinking alcohol. Findings: Most students did not know about the physiological cause of flushing. There were significant gender differences in both reactions to and perception of responses to a person who flushes. There was no direct relationship between flushing and drinking …

Generativity In Young Adults: Comparing And Explaining The Impact Of Mentoring, Lindsay J. Hastings

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this embedded explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to examine the impact of mentoring relationships on generativity in college students. Generativity refers to concern for establishing and guiding the next generation The first, quantitative phase compared generatvity levels among general college students, college student leaders who do not mentor, and college student leaders who mentor through a program called Nebraska Human Resources Institute (NHRI) at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Data were collected via surveys (N = 273) using the Loyola Generativity Scale (LGS), the Generativity Behavior Checklist (GBC), and the Personal Strivings measure. A multivariate …

Implicit And Explicit Alcohol-Related Motivations Among College Binge Drinkers, Laura C. Herschl, Dennis E. Mcchargue, James Mackillop, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Krista B. Highland

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale: Positive alcohol outcome expectancies and behavioral economic indices of alcohol consumption are related to binge drinking among college students and may reflect explicit and implicit motivations that are differentially associated with this behavior. Objectives: The present study hypothesized that implicit (alcohol purchase task) and explicit (positive expectancy for alcohol’s effects) motivations for drinking would not be correlated. It was also hypothesized that greater implicit and explicit motivations would predict alcohol-related risk. Methods: Participants were 297 college student binge drinkers (54% female; 88% European-American; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: M = 9.53, SD = 5.04). Three indices from the …

Does Being Rural Matter?: The Roles Of Rurality, Social Support, And Social Self-Efficacy In First-Year College Student Adjustment, Allison L. Bitz Phd

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

One out of every three first-year college students will not return for a second year of college (Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 2010). Due to a variety of factors, minority students are at an even higher risk of dropping out of college. Rural youth, comprising approximately 22% of the nation’s total youth, form a significant minority population; yet the rural student experience in college has not yet been widely considered in research. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore college adjustment and its predictors among first-year students, with an emphasis on the role of rurality in college adjustment. Social self-efficacy, …

Exploring The Complexities Of Learning Motivation In Pre-Service Teacher Education Students: A Grounded Theory Approach, Kristin K. Grosskopf

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative, grounded-theory study investigated learning motivation differences among three achievement groupings of undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Nine students participated in in-depth interviews that explored their reasons for pursuing their degree, their learning experiences in a university setting, their perceptions about meaningful learning experiences, and the nature of factors that both enhance and challenge their learning motivation. Participant responses conveyed strategies and conditions that were coded and analyzed, and a theoretical model was developed describing causal conditions that underlie students’ motivation to learn, phenomena that arose from those …

The Role Of Drinking Motives In Social Anxiety And Alcohol Use, Lindsay S. Ham, Michel Bonin, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although social anxiety and problem drinking commonly co-occur, the relationship between social anxiety and drinking among college students is not well understood. The current study examined the relationship between drinking motives, or reasons for drinking, and social anxiety in 239 volunteers. Contrary to hypotheses, high (n = 83), moderate (n = 90), and low (n = 66) social anxiety groups did not differ in endorsement of coping and conformity drinking motives. Further, social anxiety was negatively related to weekly alcohol use and unrelated to alcohol-related problems. Post hoc hierarchical multiple regression analyses conducted for each social anxiety …

College Students And Problematic Drinking: A Review Of The Literature, Lindsay S. Ham, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Problem drinking during the college years is a significant public health concern. The goal of the current review was to examine the primary psychosocial factors that predict problem drinking in college students. Variables examined included demographic variables, personality, drinking history, alcohol expectancies, drinking motives, stress and coping, activity involvement, and peer and family influence. Evidence from studies of college drinking indicated that the variables associated with college drinking seem to vary at levels dealing with one’s personality and coping mechanisms, one’s thought processes about drinking, and the environment. It seems that expectancies and drinking motives may serve as explanations for …