Journal of American College Health最新文献

Psychological well-being is essential yet underexamined among college students. Guided by a psychosocial framework, this study explores how financial stress, loneliness, and perceived school mental health climate relate to psychological well-being. We analyzed data from the 2022-2023 Healthy Minds Study (N = 27,340; 135 U.S. institutions) using hierarchical regression. Loneliness had the strongest negative association with well-being (β = -0.43, p < 0.001), followed by positive associations with school mental health climate (β = 0.21, p < 0.001) and a weaker negative association with financial stress (β = -0.10, p < 0.001). Findings underscore the complex nature of student well-being and call for interventions that reduce loneliness, ease financial burdens, and enhance campus mental health climates.

Objective: This study compared giving kindness, receiving kindness, self-kindness, and resilience between gender diverse (GD) and cisgender youth, and investigated the correlation between kindness (giving, receiving, self) and resilience among GD youth specifically. Methods: A total of 488 youth (93% college/university students; n = 69 GD; n = 419 cisgender) completed a survey that included demographics and scales to measure giving kindness, receiving kindness, self-kindness, and resilience. Results: Results from chi-square tests of independence indicated an association between gender and self-kindness, and gender and resilience. Results from Pearson's correlation showed a positive correlation between resilience and self-kindness in GD youth. Conclusions: Given that GD youth were more likely to have moderate levels of self-kindness and low levels of resilience compared to cisgender youth and that self-kindness and resilience were positively correlated, researchers may wish to focus on providing GD youth with self-kindness resources which could, in turn, lead to increases in resilience.

Objective: To collect and analyze campus alcohol policies (CAPs), a first "line of defense" for protecting students from alcohol-related harm, from post-secondary schools.

Participants: A national probability sample of 45 post-secondary schools, stratified by length of undergraduate program (two versus four-year), region, and school size.

Methods: CAPs were scored in three areas: (1) compliance with federal law; (2) clarity of language; and (3) effectiveness. Bivariate regression models tested whether and how policies varied by institution-level characteristics.

Results: Most schools (76%) complied with federal alcohol policy requirements but used "very difficult" language. "Wet" campuses in the Northeast scored the lowest for policy effectiveness, while "dry" campuses with more housing tended to have stronger policies.

Conclusions: CAPs actively shape campus drinking environments, but effective ones are unevenly utilized. Future research should explore the impact of CAPs and state alcohol policy environments on specific alcohol-related consequences, both for student drinkers and students experiencing harms from others' drinking.

Objective: Childhood emotional abuse is related to mental health disorders, yet little is known about mechanisms underlying this association. We examined daily stressors as mediators of this link.

Participants: Longitudinal data from college students were collected across two studies (ns = 306 and 362). Both samples were primarily White, heterosexual, and women.

Methods: In Study 1, participants completed a measure of current stressors and psychological adjustment two weeks after completing a measure of childhood trauma. In Study 2, participants completed a baseline measure of childhood trauma, 14 days of stressor exposure surveys, and then a distress measure.

Results: Greater childhood emotional abuse was related to experiencing more total and interpersonal stressors, and stressors were related to poorer mental health. Indirect effects of both stressors were significant.

Conclusion: Early adversity may bring about more stressors in adulthood, which might explain why survivors of childhood emotional abuse report poorer mental health as adults.

Objective: Bolstering resilience may protect against adverse health outcomes. Literature has established a positive link between mindfulness and resilience, though potential underlying mechanisms are still being identified. Evidence suggests increased mindfulness enhances meaning in life, and meaning in life is positively associated with resilience. We examined whether presence of and search for meaning in life explain the relationship between mindfulness and resilience. Participants: Subjects were undergraduates (N = 778, 81.4% female) at a large public university. Methods: An online survey including the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Brief Resilience Scale, and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale was distributed and a parallel mediation model was tested in R with gender as a covariate. Results: A significant indirect effect was found for presence of meaning (β = .12, p < .001), but not search for meaning (β = .01, p > .05). Conclusions: Mindfulness may bolster resilience by increasing presence of meaning in life. Findings may inform interventions to improve resilience in young adults.

Objective: Campus veteran offices aid student veterans in the processing of their education benefits. Many also provide other services and a sense of community for their student veterans. This research explored the role of campus veteran offices in mitigating the effects of community reintegration and food insecurity for student veterans. Participants: The sample included 10 veteran office staff at colleges in Florida. Methods: Campus veteran office staff completed semi-structured interviews which explored the themes of community reintegration and food insecurity. Results: Campus veteran office staff described their current programming and their plans for program expansion. In doing so, a series of best practices were identified as potential areas of improvement for campus veteran offices. Conclusions: Campus veteran offices provide a range of services and are uniquely situated to help student veterans address challenges related to community reintegration and food insecurity.

Objective: To document college students' trauma rates and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms; yoga and trauma-sensitive yoga (TSY) experience; and TSY interest, barriers, preferences.

Participants: English-fluent students ages 18+ enrolled at a southeastern United States university (N = 339).

Methods: A mixed method online survey assessed trauma (Life Event Checklist for DSM-5), PTSD symptoms (Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5), and TSY variables.

Results: Ninety-four percent had trauma exposure and 30% reported clinically elevated PTSD symptoms. Some (11%) had heard of TSY and 2% had TSY experience. Most had some TSY interest (73%). Participants with clinically elevated PTSD symptoms and TSY interest (n = 91), reported top barriers of time (56%), scheduling, (55%), and cost (55%), and preferences for hybrid (41%), group programs (69%), for survivors of any trauma type (73%).

Conclusions: Results support TSY program need and interest and can be used to develop and implement accessible TSY programs.

Objective: Sexual minority (SM) young adults experience worse mental health outcomes than heterosexual peers, including increased depression and suicide risk. Psychological pain may play an important role in this relationship.

Participants: We examined psychological pain among heterosexual and SM college students (N = 1481).

Methods: We examined sexual minority status, depression, and loneliness as predictors of psychological pain.

Results: Psychological pain was significantly elevated among SM (n = 185) (M = 27.89, SD = 11.76) versus heterosexual participants (M = 21.55, SD = 9.67), t(219.55) = 6.99, p < .001, g = 0.64. Sexual minority status predicted psychological pain when accounting for depression and loneliness (b = 2.18, SE = 0.58, p < .001).

Conclusions: Psychological pain was elevated among SM college students. Future research should examine antecedents and consequences of psychological pain among sexual minority young adults to inform effective interventions for suicide prevention in this high-risk population.

Objective: To evaluate changes in the proportion of nursing students with hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and physical inactivity throughout the undergraduate program. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted with first-year nursing students from a Brazilian university, followed over four years. Sociodemographic, clinical, anthropometric, blood pressure, lipid, and glycemic data were collected and analyzed using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Results: Total cholesterol declined in the first year but rose significantly in the second, while abnormal HDL levels progressively increased, particularly among women. Triglycerides tended to rise in the third year, with a protective effect among evangelical students. Obesity and BMI increased markedly, peaking in the final year; greater distance from the university was protective. Waist and neck circumference also rose. Physical inactivity remained stable; participation in intercollegiate athletics and extracurricular activities was protective, while other activities increased sedentary risk. Conclusion: The proportion of students with cardiovascular risk factors progressively worsened throughout the nursing program.

Objective: This mixed-methods study examined whether campus engagement and campus social services would buffer the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and psychological distress among diverse college students. Participants: The present study was composed of 185 undergraduate students (M_age = 24.77, Hispanic/Latinx = 72.40%), the majority of whom (79.50%) reported three or more ACEs. Methods: Participants completed measures of ACEs, psychological distress, campus engagement, and campus support service utilization, followed by open-ended questions assessing ACEs and academic experiences. Results: ACEs were positively correlated with psychological distress. Academic engagement and academic support services significantly buffered the impact of ACEs on psychological distress, while social engagement and mental health support did not. Two major themes emerged in which participants described (1) the impact of ACEs on academics and (2) recommendations for support. Conclusions: Academic-focused interventions may provide unique protective benefits for trauma-exposed college students.