Psychology Commons^™

Breaking Point: An Exploration Of The Mental Health Crisis On Campus, Melissa Wood

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

In the past several decades, the number of college students who experience mental health concerns has increased astronomically. During that time, acts of campus violence have increased as well. Unfortunately, many colleges have been unable to effectively meet the needs of students with mental disorders. This article explores the challenges surrounding the mental health and wellness of college students. It also analyzes the impact of such challenges on students and the institution. Additionally, this paper examines best practices that colleges may implement to assist students in distress and discusses implications for higher education leaders.

The Effect Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On The Self-Esteem Of College Students, Maggie J. Van Heemst

ELAIA

Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to predict negative health and mental health effects later in life. One in two Americans has experienced at least one ACE. This issue is prevalent across class, race, and ethnicity. However, little is known about ACEs and the young adult population. Methods A survey was conducted to measure ACEs and self-esteem in fifty college students. The hypothesis was a negative correlation between ACE and self-esteem scores. Results A small negative correlation was found between ACEs and self-esteem in college students. The average ACE score was 3.9 and the average self-esteem score was 16.78. …

Impact Of Mindfulness Training On Test Anxiety In College Students, Lindsay Alcock

ELAIA

Background Mindfulness is defined as the state of giving full attention to a stimulus, internal or external, without inducing judgment or becoming reactional about the feelings experienced, positive or negative (Davis & Hayes, 2012). Previous studies have investigated the relationship between mindfulness techniques and the reduction of anxiety (Chambers et al., 2008; Macdonald & Olsen, 2020); a smaller number of studies have considered test anxiety (Cho et al., 2016; Sparks, 2017). Prior research has used multiple mindfulness techniques to measure the impact on test anxiety, but few have isolated mindfulness trainings to compare the relative impact of each type on …

Strategies For Supporting College Students Experiencing Grief, Rachel A. Guimond

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Grief and loss are a shared human experience. However, lacking cultural awareness of the impact of grief and insufficient social support can make managing the loss of a loved one very challenging for students. One strategy to support students who experience loss during college is the development of a course that addresses content related to the experience within supportive academic relationships. This presentation will explore research findings about student experiences of grief on college campuses and evidence-based practices for the development and implementation of an academic course on grief.

An Examination Of The Influence Of Ethnic Identity, Spirituality, And Social Support As Predictors Of Resilience Among Black Male College Graduates Born In The United States, Sandy Belizaire

Dissertations

Problem

This study aimed to assess the influence of ethnic identity, spirituality, and social support on resilience among Black males (BM) who were born in the United States of America and are recent college graduates. The achievement gap between BM and their counterparts is among education's most infuriating problems. Educators are more likely to dissuade Black men from going to college, and those who enroll drop out before they graduate (Noguera 2003; Wilborn 2013).

Method

This study employed a non-experimental, quantitative correlation research design using self-report questionnaires. The target population for this study was American-born Black males who were graduates …

Once More, With Feeling: Partnering With Learners To Re-See The College Experience Through Metaphor And Sensory Language, Taran Cardone

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study focuses on better understanding students and their internal worlds through conceptual metaphor theory and sensory language. Using a phenomenological and arts-based approach, I examined students’ metaphorical constructions of their college experiences and the sensory language and information informing those constructions. By engaging participants in a multimodal process to re-see their experience through connoisseurship and criticism, I explored the following research questions: How do students metaphorically structure their college experience? What sensory language do college students use to describe the metaphorical dimensions of their college experience? How does sensory information shape the metaphorical structuring of their college experience? Through …

Binge Drinking And Protective Behavioral Strategies Among Greek And Non-Greek College Students, Maria Niitepold

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

One of the most problematic habits of college students, binge drinking, has been of particular interest among researchers as a result of the increased risk of harm experienced by students engaging in this high-risk behavior. Fraternity and sorority students have also come under scrutiny for habitually engaging in binge drinking and experiencing significant levels of negative consequences as a result. Little is currently understood about the differences between Protective Behavioral Strategy (PBS) use of Greek and non-Greek students. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in rates of binge drinking and PBS use among Greek and non-Greek …

Student Intentions To Engage Instructors In Mental Health-Related Conversations: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Allie White, Hannah Ball, Sara Labelle

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Considering that college students experience mental health issues and college counseling centers are overwhelmed, this study identifies instructors as a potential mental health resource for students. This study utilizes the theory of planned behavior to investigate the relationship between students’ attitudes, injunctive and descriptive norms, perceived behavioral control, and their intentions to engage their instructors in mental health conversations.

Participants

Participants were 311 undergraduate students at a small, private university in Southern California.

Methods

Participants were recruited through a Communication subject pool and completed an online survey about engaging instructors in these conversations.

Results

Results of a regression analysis …

Lolita In The Contemporary American Classroom: Pedagogical And Learning Approaches, Jasmine Revels

Master’s Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study is to discover effective collegiate-level teaching and learning strategies for Vladimir Nabokov’s 1958 novel Lolita in the midst of the current American political and social climate. Some of the factors of the current political and social climate in the United States thought to have an effect on the teaching of Lolita, and were thus considered for further inquiry, were cancel culture, the Me Too Movement, and trigger warnings. Primary research was collected from college students and English college professors. To obtain this research and the opinions of respondents regarding this topic, a combination of both …

How Covid19 Has Impacted Students Nutrition And Eating Habits With The Abrupt Closure Of Restaurants And Campuses, Chloe Sermet

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing college campuses, restaurants, and businesses to shut down, many college students found themselves having to return home or find alternative food resources. Due to these factors, it was imperative to examine how college student’s eating habits have changed throughout the pandemic, dealing with lots of stressors, and whether having prior education on nutrition influenced those eating habits. To examine those effects, 17 nutrition minors and 126 non-nutrition minors participated in the current study in which they took the College Students Eating Habit survey and the Perception of Peer Pressure Scale. The outcome of the …

A Function-Based Intervention For College Student Tech Use In Class, Steffen Wilson, Brianna Williamson

Pedagogicon Conference Proceedings

The purpose of the intervention described in this paper is to provide guidance and support to help college students develop a personal tech-management strategy, so that they can reap the benefits and minimize the pitfalls of their personal technology use in class. Results presented suggested that this intervention can help students begin to develop a self-management strategy for their off-task tech use.

Depression Symptoms Of College Students During Covid-10 And The Universities’ Response, Anamika Paulay

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In early spring 2020, universities worldwide shut down their campuses in response to a global pandemic. The present study examines the potential effect of the shutdown and other pandemic-related stresses on student well-being at Western Washington University. It assesses students’ depression symptoms using the IDAS-II General Depression Scale. The study also considers two campus resources (the Counseling Center, and Prevention and Wellness Services) that students can turn to for help with mental health issues, and gauges students’ awareness and utilization of these resources. The study subjects were Western undergraduates (N = 252), who answered a survey that included the IDAS-II …

A Call To Revitalize Mental Health Wellness Practices For Black, Indigenous, & College Students Of Color, Tyra Jean

Population Health Research Brief Series

Given the challenges faced by the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities within the U.S. this year, it is more important than ever to ensure BIPOC college students are provided with access to mental health care.

A Meta-Analysis On Non-Cognitive Predictors Of College Student Academic Performance, Maggie Allphin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

There are many factors that affect student success, often measured with academic performance. Research has shown that students attribute stress as a major factor that affects their academic performance (Frazier et al., 2018). This suggests that the ability to cope with stress can improve academic performance. Studies have shown that higher emotional intelligence is linked to higher ability to cope with stress (Wang, Xie, and Cui, 2016). In this meta-analysis, I looked into the relationship across multiple studies between emotional intelligence, grade point average, and other non-cognitive predictors. For the first meta-analysis, seven records relating emotional intelligence to academic performance …

An Exploration Of Factors Influencing First-Generation College Students' Ability To Graduate College: A Delphi Study, Ashley C. Gray Benson

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation serves as a counter-narrative to the standard deficiency model in published research that characterizes most first-generation college students as feeble and unequipped when it comes to thriving in, persisting in, and graduating from college. This is one of the few studies that examines the success of first-generation college students from the students’ perspective. First-generation college students who graduated from college participated in a Delphi study that addressed this question: What factors influence first-generation college students' ability to graduate college? Three rounds of data collection resulted in ten themes, roughly in order of importance based on feedback from study …

Components Of Fluency-Based Instruction In The College Classroom, Jennifer Kourassanis Velasquez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current research regarding the use of fluency-based instruction (FBI) to teach academic skills suggests the addition of FBI to traditional instruction produces better learning outcomes than traditional instruction alone. However, there is a lack of comparative research of the addition of FBI to traditional instruction vs. traditional instruction alone on student performance outcomes with college students. The present study was composed of two experiments to examine the effects of the addition of a component of FBI using a modified SAFMEDS (Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled) strategy to traditional instruction within the course’s existing curriculum on quiz and …

Personal And Educational Differences In College Students’ Attitudes Toward Social Justice, Michael Di Bianca B.A., Perrin Robinson M.S., Mary Jo Coiro Ph.D

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Many colleges and universities encourage students to engage with social justice issues in their education and career discernment. However, a variety of individual attributes and life experiences may predict how college students develop an awareness of and attitudes toward social justice, perhaps including ways in which students relate to their own challenging life experiences and encounter others’ experiences of injustice. This study explored the relationship between individual attributes, educational experiences and social justice attitudes among a sample of 347 college students who completed self-report surveys. Specifically, this study examined a) help-seeking attitudes, b) self-compassion, c) prior experience receiving mental health …

On Campus Social Support And Hope As Unique Predictors Of Perceived Ability To Persist In College, Deanna D'Amico, Veronica Fruiht

Psychology | Faculty Scholarship

The psychological construct of hope, characterized by goal-directed thinking rooted in personal agency and the ability to develop pathways to achieve goals, has long been demonstrated to predict academic success. A sample of 994 undergraduates participated in this study to better understand the role of hope and on-campus social support in predicting students’ perceived ability to persist and succeed in college. Results demonstrated that on-campus support, particularly from teachers and professors, significantly predicted academic outcomes and hope. In addition, we found evidence of a support gap in which students from underrepresented ethnic minorities were far more likely to report that …

Growing In Favor With God And Man: Attachment To God And Psychological Separation Of Christian, Millennial College Students, David Allen Gregory

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine whether Christian, Millennial college students’ secure attachment to God relationship could contribute to their psychological separation. This question was addressed by examining (a) the correlation between attachment to parents and psychological separation, (b) the correlation between attachment to parents and attachment to God, and (b) the correlation between attachment to God and psychological separation. Bowlby’s (1969, 1973, 1982) attachment theory was used as the theoretical foundation to explore both the students’ relationships with parents and God. Attachment to parents of Christian, Millennial college students attending a Southern Christian college was …

An Examination Of Collegiate Extracurricular Activities And Career Aspiration Levels, Chelsey Lynn Ingram

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to evaluate the career aspiration levels of college students who participated in college-related extracurricular activities compared to students who did not participate in extracurricular activities. Additionally, this study compared each domain of extracurricular activities (e.g., athletics, the arts, service clubs, etc.) to determine which domain has the highest levels of aspirations. Survey responses provided a representation of participants' intended future career achievements and perceptions of participation in collegiate extracurricular activities. Data was collected from a sample of undergraduate students through online survey responses via Rowan University's SONA system. Bivariate correlation tests in SPSS for Windows were utilized …

Alcohol Use And Strenuous Physical Activity In College Students: A Longitudinal Test Of 2 Explanatory Models Of Health Behavior, Heather A. Davis, Elizabeth N. Riley, Gregory T. Smith, Richard S. Milich, Jessica L. Burris

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: To help clarify the effect of gender on the bidirectional relationship between alcohol use and strenuous physical activity in college students. Participants: Five hundred twenty-four (52% female) college students recruited in August 2008 and 2009 and followed up in April 2009 and April 2011, respectively. Methods: Participants reported their alcohol use and strenuous physical activity on 2 occasions (baseline and follow-up) spaced approximately 1 or 2 years apart. Results: For females, alcohol use quantity at baseline was associated with increased strenuous physical activity at 1- and 2-year follow-ups, and alcohol use frequency at baseline was …

Nurturing Compassion Development Among College Students: A Longitudinal Study, Thomas G. Plante, Katherine Halman

Psychology

Little research exists on the development of compassion among college undergraduates. This study tracks changes in compassion and identifies factors associated with these changes over the course of undergraduate students’ college careers, from the time of admittance to the time of graduation. Compassion levels assessed at the point of college entrance accounted for 25% of the variance in compassion at the time of graduation. These findings provided evidence for the notion that compassion can continue to be cultivated once in college. Predictors such as diversity training, the frequency of religious service attendance, participation in community-based service-learning, political identification, and feeling …

Perceived School Style And Academic Outcomes Among Ethnically Diverse College Students, Rowan Hilty, Cari Gillen-O'Neel

Psychology Honors Projects

Students’ perceptions of their schools play an important role in achievement. One framework for measuring students’ perceptions is an adaptation of Baumrind’s parenting typology, which measures perceived “school style” (Pellerin, 2005) along two dimensions of responsiveness (warmth) and demandingness (high academic expectations). Although research suggests that perceptions of authoritative styles (both responsive and demanding) correlate with better student outcomes (Dornbusch et al., 1987), no existing research has considered whether these findings apply to ethnically diverse samples. We surveyed 301 students from five Midwestern colleges who completed measures of perceived school style, perceived discrimination, and several academic outcomes. Academically stigmatized students …

Students' Perspectives After Participation In A Mandated College Level Alcohol Intervention Program: A Phenomenological Study, Suzanna L. Guizar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol abuse among college students continues to be a significant problem by which the consequences impact the student, their peers, and the university. Although quantitative research with volunteer participants supports the use of enhanced brief motivational interventions and cognitive behavioral skills training in reducing risky drinking behavior (binge drinking), research with mandated students has shown inconsistent findings. The current study is a phenomenological qualitative study exploring the students’ perspectives after attending a mandated college-level alcohol intervention program. Mandated students are students who have been referred to an alcohol intervention as a result of violating an alcohol related policy on campus. …

The Understanding And Promotion Of Resilience In College Students, Jorie Pollak Himmel

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Transitioning to college can be hard for many adolescents and emerging adults. The field of psychology has long asked the question, “What helps a person cope with transition and with stress in general?” Research has shown that resilience plays a key role. In recent years there has been a growing interest among psychologists in the concept of resilience, and most importantly in the cultivation of it as both a trait and a learnable skill. Despite this interest in the development and cultivation of resilience, resilience research to date has neglected to explore the ways in which emerging adults understand resilience …

Distinguishing Observed Inattentive Behaviors In The College Classroom As They Correlate To Brain Wave Activity Utilizing A Wireless Electroencephalograph, Christopher J. Aura, Matthew R. Stanton

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

A significant amount of research has been devoted to the behavioral correlates of inattention in children (A.P.A., 2000; Arnold, 2000; Gordon & Barkley, 1998). It is proposed by the authors that college students, in their several years of experience, are much more capable of masking these trademark behaviors. When a child loses interest they will begin to openly look around the room, shift in their seat, or chat with their neighbors (Sandberg, Rutter & Taylor, 1978; Arnold, 2000). College students however, are proposed to candidly fidget, shift in their seat, or even maintain eye contact with their instructor while “daydreaming”. …

A Historical Analysis Of Career Choice Among Chinese College Students, Fengyu Wang, Cody Ding

Education Sciences and Professional Programs Faculty Works

This study provides a historical analysis and review of the contemporary development of career choice orientations among Chinese college students in light of recent economic reform policies. Specifically, it describes the changes in, and developing trends of, career choice orientations in the past, present, and future among college students. This analysis reveals that with the profound transition from a centralized planned economy to a market economy in recent China, students’ career orientation has experienced a transformation from a societal standard to an individualistic standard; personal goals have changed from idealism to realism; and ideologies have developed from a unilateral structure …

The Resilient Turn: College Students' Perspectives - A Phenomenological Inquiry, Perah Kessman

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenology was designed to explore with a sample of undergraduate students in psychology-related majors their perceptions of psychological resilience and the factors they believe contributed to it. While previous studies have examined the construct of resilience in childhood and adolescence, relatively little is known about the phenomenon later in the lifespan. Thus, the rationale for the study stems from the researcher’s wish to fill this gap in knowledge by studying resilience among emerging adults. It was the researcher’s assumption that the knowledge generated from this study would both provide new insights into emerging adult resilience and inform higher …

Examining The Effectiveness Of The After Action Review For Online And Face-To-Face Discussion Groups, William Cradick

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is not enough research in the utilization of the After Action Review (AAR), in a college setting. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the AAR in both face-to-face and online classroom environments. Over the period of a semester, participants of undergraduate psychology courses, at a mid-sized university, conducted AARs with their static groups. Overall course and group activity grades were measured, along with self-efficacy, satisfaction, and motivation ratings. The AAR was found to be overall ineffective at improving performance outcomes. The evidence is not conclusive enough to suggest that the AAR will not be …

Academic Self-Efficacy, Coping, And Academic Performance In College, Mehjabeen Khan

Student Published Works

This study serves as a pilot study for a possible future study including the same variables. The purpose of the pilot study was to find a relationship in the college academic setting between academic self-efficacy, stress coping skills, and academic performance. Sixty-six undergraduate students, 17 male and 49 female, from a university in northwestern United States participated in the study. Stress was measured using the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Self-efficacy was measured using the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001). Academic performance was measured using the participants’ college GPA. Academic Self-Efficacy and the Planning subscale …