Arslan, G., Yıldırım, M. & Zangeneh, M. Coronavirus Anxiety and Psychological Adjustment in College Students: Exploring the Role of College Belongingness and Social Media Addiction. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00460-4
The psychological health of people all around the world is severely affected due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This study examined a moderated mediation model in which college belongingness mediated the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and psychological adjustment, and this mediation effect was moderated by social media addiction. A total of 315 undergraduate students (M = 21.65±3.68 years and 67% females) participated in this study. The results demonstrated that college belongingness partially mediated the association between coronavirus anxiety and psychological adjustment. The mediating part from coronavirus anxiety to college belongingness was moderated by social media addiction. In comparison with the high level of social media addiction, coronavirus anxiety had a stronger predictive effect on college belongingness under the low and moderate levels of social media addiction condition. Our findings highlight that college belongingness is a potential mechanism explaining how coronavirus anxiety is related to psychological adjustment and that this relation may depend on the levels of social media addiction.
Borjian, A. (2018). Academically Successful Latino Undocumented Students in College: Resilience and Civic Engagement. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 40(1), 22–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986317754299
This qualitative study focused on academically successful undocumented immigrant college students who also advocate for access to educational opportunities for others. Using purposeful sampling, eight students attending a large university were recruited and interviewed. Findings indicate that academically successful students are eager to obtain economic security and are highly motivated to give back to their communities. Respondents emphasized that pro-immigrant public policy and institutional processes and support are important factors for their development of academic resiliency and success. Findings revealed that although the results of the U.S. presidential election have saddened and angered the respondents, they continue to express their strong commitment to pursue their dreams. Researchers are urged to focus on academically successful undocumented immigrant students in order to learn about the factors that contribute to their academic success. Learning from resilient students can inform educators regarding effective practices that support students who are currently less successful in school.
Brewer, Margo, Van Kessel, G., Sanderson, B., Naumann, F. , Lane, M., Carter. A. “Resilience in Higher Education Students: A Scoping Review.” Higher Education Research and Development 38(4):1-16. doi:10.1080/07294360.162681
The health, wellbeing and employability of university students are key considerations within higher education. In response, interest in student resilience is on the rise. Reviews of contemporary resilience literature highlight both conceptual and methodological weaknesses, issues which hamper attempts to design effective resilience interventions. To inform the design of a student resilience program, to be piloted at three Australian universities, a scoping review of resilience specific to the higher education context was undertaken. Searches of three electronic databases (PsychINFO, CINAHL and ProQuest) were conducted. Seventy-two peer-reviewed articles published between 2007 and 2017 were included in the review. While the review reaffirms the conceptual and methodological issues found in previous resilience research, it provides a useful critique of key issues in relation to university student resilience and interventions to enhance students’ resilience. Recommendations for educators and researchers are provided.
Brogden, Laura E. Resiliency of Community College Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences. (2015). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Educational Foundations and Leadership, Old Dominion University. doi: 10.25777/6apd-kg74. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_etds/5
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as defined by Drs. Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda are prevalent in the general population of the United States. These childhood traumas are strongly related to risky behaviors and poor health outcomes. The results of childhood stress may influence students at community colleges. This study of community college students with identified adverse childhood experiences will describe their perceived experiences in community colleges as they relate to their success and completion. This study is done in a framework of resilience in order to identify factors which may be influential in students’ progress and completion.
Chung, E., Turnbull, D., & Chur-Hansen, A. (2017). Differences in resilience between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ university students. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417693493
Resilience is related to students’ well-being and academic success. While challenges associated with students who are from historically underrepresented backgrounds (i.e. ‘non-traditional students’) have been frequently reported, their resilience has received lesser attention. The primary purpose of this study was to compare levels of resilience between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ students. First year students participated in an online mental health survey which included a standardised measure of resilience, demographic questions and an item exploring students’ own perception of being ‘non-traditional’. The results showed that students who considered themselves to be ‘non-traditional’ in life aspects, including age, employment and parenting responsibility, had significantly higher resilience compared to self-identified ‘traditional students’. However, resilience levels of students who deemed themselves to be ‘non-traditional’ in other domains (e.g. household income, cultural background) did not differ significantly from ‘traditional’ students. The findings show that life experiences commonly affiliated with being a mature-aged student, including work and being a carer, may contribute to higher resilience. Implications in relation to practice and future research were discussed.
Masten, A. S. (2014). Ordinary magic: Resilience in development. New York: Guilford Press. Paperback edition 2015. German edition 2016. Japanese edition 2020. http://www.guilford.com/books/Ordinary-Magic/Ann-Masten/9781462523719
Oehme, K., Perko, A., Clark, J., Ray, E. C., Arpan, L., & Bradley, L. (2018). A trauma-informed approach to building college students’ resilience. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 16, 93-107. Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1547740904_b89bb871 doi:10.1080/23761407.2018.1533503
Resilience is a dynamic process of positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity. As colleges grapple with high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among students, many seek new ways to improve students’ resilience. This paper describes the development of a new psychoeducational universal prevention resilience program (https://strong.fsu.edu) designed to complement existing mental health services at a large public university. Serving a diverse population of 42,000 students, the new online program is designed to strengthen student coping skills, to inform students how trauma can affect mental and behavioral health, and to increase students’ connections to each other and to campus resources. It uses an iterative applied science approach grounded in the theory of resilience and stress research. It also adapts empirical information and data to a broader social work perspective in a manner responsive to trauma, media usage of Generation Z and young millennials, and the realities of campus environmental stressors.
Patel, Vimal and Kelly Field. 2020. Vulnerable Students: Creating a Covid-Era Safety Net. Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.csuci.edu/news/releases/documents/safety-net-report.pdf
The Chronicle of Higher Education has released “Vulnerable Students: Creating the Covid-era Safety Net,” a comprehensive report that examines what colleges are doing to support the students most affected during this crisis. From ensuring students have the technology they need and continuing services like drive-through food pantries and virtual mental health support, the report takes a close look at what successful institutions have implemented to ensure their students stay in school and ultimately, graduate. The report features a ‘Spotlight on Latinx Students,’ highlighting CSUCI and our efforts to move the student community online when the switch was made to virtual instruction and operations. Keeping students engaged and focused on their goal of obtaining a college degree is key to seeing them through to graduation. Peer Mentor Ambassadors, along with the University’s staff, support students and help them see the long-term benefits of having a college degree.
Reyes, A.T., Muthukumar, V., Bhatta, T.R. et al. (2020). Promoting Resilience Among College Student Veterans Through an Acceptance-and-Commitment-Therapy App: An Intervention Refinement Study. Community Mental Health J 56, 1206–1214 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00617-4
Military veterans’ stigmatized views on mental disorders and traditional mental health care considerably reduce veterans’ access to mental health services. The present study aimed to refine a previously developed non-stigmatizing smartphone-app intervention based on the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy for college student veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To this end, we tested the acceptability of the developed prototype using a mixed-method study design. A total of nine student veterans participated in the study by using the app intervention and completing pre-post study measures and a post-intervention qualitative interview. The results showed that the intervention was highly acceptable. The results of the qualitative data analysis highlighted relevant themes related to strategies for improving the content, delivery, and structure of the intervention. The results also showed that, despite a decrease in the participants’ adherence as the intervention progressed, there was a consistent improvement in the participants’ resilience, PTSD, and rumination. Based on the results, the intervention was revised for prospective feasibility and efficacy testing. Our results highlight the need to use a collaborative approach in the early stage of the development of self-management PTSD interventions.
Robbins, A., E. Kaye, & J.C. Catling. “Predictors of student resilience in higher education.” (2018). Psychology Teaching Review. Vol. 24, No. 1. 44-52.
Resilience, when coping with stress, can protect against serious negative life outcomes and lead to greater lifetime satisfaction. The current literature suggests that there are internal factors that may moderate the development of resilience. These factors could be used to inform targeted interventions for young people experiencing stress within the educational sphere. The current study extends previous literature by confirming known predictors and testing novel predictors of resilience in female students within a Higher Education context. Psychological measures of resilience, attachment quality, self-esteem, and exposure to stressful and adverse childhood experiences were utilised. Statistical analysis revealed that self-esteem, exposure to stressful events, levels of avoidance in maternal relationships, and levels of anxiety in paternal relationships were significant predictors of levels of resilience. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed alongside potential interventions.
Samuel, T.S., J.W. Samuel (2021) “I Can Math!”: Reducing Math Anxiety and Increasing Math Self-Efficacy Using a Mindfulness and Growth Mindset-Based Intervention in First-Year Students, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 45:3, 205-222, DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2019.1666063
Math anxiety is a debilitating problem that affects many community college students. Neuropsychological research suggests that negative rumination when anticipating math situations substantially exhausts working memory load, contributes to execution anxiety, which interferes with learning and performance. Studies have shown that improving the psychological experience in the classroom could have a positive impact on students’ academic achievement. However, there is little to no research employing interventions designed to specifically address anticipation and execution math anxiety in community college students. The current research investigated the effect of embedding a combined mindfulness and growth mindset intervention within a required first-year, two-semester developmental statistics course. Results from this mixed methods pilot study indicate that this new combined approach not only reduced math anxiety, but had also increased math self-efficacy in a sample of college students. Replication of the research is warranted in order to substantiate the preliminary results.
Schreiner, L. A. (2017). The Privilege of Grit. About Campus, 22(5), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/abc.21303
Laurie A. Schreiner explores the privilege inherent in the concept of grit and questions the wisdom of using it to support student success.
Shebuski, Karen, et al. “Self‐Compassion, Trait Resilience, and Trauma Exposure in Undergraduate Students.” Journal of College Counseling, vol. 23, no. 1, Apr. 2020, pp. 2–14. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxymbc.helmlib.org/10.1002/jocc.12145.
The authors investigated the relationship between self‐compassion and trait resilience and tested the potential moderating roles of these variables in the relationship between trauma exposure and general psychological distress in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 296). Results revealed a significant relationship between self‐compassion and trait resilience. Self‐compassion emerged as a significant moderator in this relationship, whereas trait resilience did not. Given high rates of trauma exposure in college student populations, implications for counseling are discussed.
Southwick, Steven M., et al. “Resilience Definitions, Theory, and Challenges: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.” European Journal of Psychotraumatology 5 (2014) ProQuest. Web. 5 Mar. 2022. DOI:10.3402/ejpt.v5.25338
In this paper, inspired by the plenary panel at the 2013 meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Dr. Steven Southwick (chair) and multidisciplinary panelists Drs. George Bonanno, Ann Masten, Catherine Panter-Brick, and Rachel Yehuda tackle some of the most pressing current questions in the field of resilience research including: (1) how do we define resilience, (2) what are the most important determinants of resilience, (3) how are new technologies informing the science of resilience, and (4) what are the most effective ways to enhance resilience? These multidisciplinary experts provide insight into these difficult questions, and although each of the panelists had a slightly different definition of resilience, most of the proposed definitions included a concept of healthy, adaptive, or integrated positive functioning over the passage of time in the aftermath of adversity. The panelists agreed that resilience is a complex construct and it may be defined differently in the context of individuals, families, organizations, societies, and cultures. With regard to the determinants of resilience, there was a consensus that the empirical study of this construct needs to be approached from a multiple level of analysis perspective that includes genetic, epigenetic, developmental, demographic, cultural, economic, and social variables. The empirical study of determinates of resilience will inform efforts made at fostering resilience, with the recognition that resilience may be enhanced on numerous levels (e.g., individual, family, community, culture).
Slaten, Christopher D.; Elison, Zachary M.; Deemer, Eric D.; Hughes, Hayley A.; Shemwell, Daniel A. “The Development and Validation of the University Belonging Questionnaire.”
Journal of Experimental Education, v86 n4 p633-651 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2017.1339009
Although belonging in K-12 school settings has been abundantly researched and clearly defined, at the university level the research and construct definition is still in its infancy (Tovar & Simon, 2010). The present study sought to develop and validate an instrument measuring university belonging–the University Belonging Questionnaire (UBQ). In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted with a sample of university students (N = 421), finding a reliable scale with three factors: (a) university affiliation, (b) university support and acceptance, and (c) faculty and staff relations. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis on a new sample (N = 290), confirmed the final 3-factor, 24-item model. Further analyses demonstrated the convergent and incremental validity of the UBQ, as it positively correlated with measures of perceived social support, social connectedness, and general belonging. Implications and recommendations for university belonging research are discussed.
Tubbs, J. D., Savage, J. E., Adkins, A. E., Amstadter, A. B., & Dick, D. M. (2019). Mindfulness moderates the relation between trauma and anxiety symptoms in college students. Journal of American college health 67(3), 235–245. https://doi.org/10.1080
Objective: To explore the relations between trauma exposure and anxiety and depression among college students, and to determine whether trait mindfulness may moderate these relations. Participants: Self-report survey data from 2,336 college sophomores were drawn from a larger university-wide study (“Spit for Science”). Methods: We constructed multiple linear regression models using past-year trauma exposure, trait mindfulness, and their multiplicative interaction to predict current anxiety and depressive symptom severity, while controlling for covariates. Results: Mindfulness was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety symptom severity. Trauma was a significant predictor of anxiety, but not depression, and high levels of mindfulness attenuated the association between trauma exposure and higher anxiety symptom severity. Conclusions: These results have implications for the treatment and prevention of anxiety among trauma-exposed college students and provide a basis for further research into the mechanisms through which mindfulness may facilitate positive mental health.