Applicability of the Dual-Factor Model of Mental Health for College Students

This study explores the utility of a dual-factor model of mental health in which the concepts of mental illness and mental wellness are integrated. Life satisfaction, emotional symptoms, personal adjustment, and clinical symptoms were assessed with a sample of 240 college students. Participants were organized into four groups based on levels of life satisfaction and clinical symptoms. Results appear to be consistent with previous research suggesting that psychopathology and subjective well-being are not opposite ends of an illness--health continuum, but may be better conceptualized as separate and complementary constructs related to the full range of human functioning. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE RESIDENCE HALLS: A HIDDEN TREASURE

Residence halls have the potential for making significant contributions to the learning and development of community college students. Understanding students’ perceptions of both staff and peer contributions to the academic climate in their residence halls is critical. The results of this study indicate that residence life staff are perceived to be higher contributors to the academic climate in living environments than residential peers. The findings from this nationwide study provide benchmark data for community colleges with residence halls. Suggestions are made for how community colleges can reexamine the educational potential of residence halls.     

RESEARCH SECTION: Out of sight,out of mind? Transition for young people with learning difficulties in out‐of‐area residential special schools and colleges

Young people with learning difficulties who go to residential special schools and colleges are highly vulnerable, often living a long way from home. Transition towards adulthood – from school to college, or college and beyond – requires careful planning and support for both young people and their families. Despite national policy and guidance in this area, this article suggests that young people with learning difficulties in out-of-area placements are being failed in terms of transition education and face huge uncertainty and very limited choices. David Abbott and Pauline Heslop, both Senior Research Fellows at the Norah Fry Research Centre based at the University of Bristol, set out, in partnership with the Home Farm Trust, to examine transitions for young people with learning difficulties who attend out-of-county residential special schools and colleges. Drawing on empirical research with 15 young people, their families, and the professionals that support them, they outline in this article the main barriers to effective transition planning. They suggest that a lot more focus on planning and commitment to good outcomes is required to ensure that this group of young people have similar life chances to their non-disabled peers.     

Epistemological Beliefs and Valuing School: Considerations for College Admissions and Retention

We examine the relationship between high school students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge, or epistemological beliefs, and their attitudes toward education. High school students completed an epistemological questionnaire assessing their beliefs in fixed ability to learn, simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge. Then they answered open-ended questions on a hypothetical character named Billy. They were to advise Billy if he should go on to college even though his grades were poor and his parents had no money. Finally, they completed questions about their own feelings toward high school and their expectations of the demands of college. Attitudes toward school were then regressed on epistemological belief factor scores. The less students believed in fixed ability to learn and quick learning, the more likely they were to encourage Billy to go to college and to appreciate the role of school in furthering their education, gaining employment, and living everyday life.     

Attachment relationships and adolescents' life satisfaction: Some relationships matter more to girls than boys

This study examined the extent to which the quality of parent and peer attachments related to early adolescents' life satisfaction (LS), whether peer attachment served as a mediator between parent attachment and LS, and potential gender differences. A total of 587 middle school students in grades 6 through 8 participated. Although both parent and peer attachment positively related to LS, parent attachment was the stronger unique predictor. There was no significant difference between males and females in levels of parent attachment; however, females reported higher levels of attachment to peers. This study also found that early adolescents were more attached to their mothers than their fathers. Finally, peer attachment partially mediated the relationship between parent attachment and LS, but only for females. Implications for gender‐specific intervention programs are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

大学生课余生活现状调查及对策研究

本研究以怀化学院360名大一、大二、大三学生为调查对象,就他们对课余生活的满意度、课余生活是否有计划、课余活动选择、课余生活方式、课余阅读书刊类型和对院系的建议七个方面进行了问卷和访谈调查。结果显示:大学生对自身课余生活质量的满意度不高;学习、上网与聊天居大学生课余生活活动的前三位,社会实践活动受到了不应有的忽视,大学生对科技类书籍关注亦不够。针对这些问题,提出了相关的对策。     

Academic self-efficacy,sense of coherence,hope and tiredness among college students with learning disabilities

Abstract

Some resilient students with LD succeed ‘against the odds’ and reach college. The goals of the study are to explore their resources and barriers during their studies. The relationships between academic self-efficacy (ASE) and personal resources (sense of coherence (SOC) and hope) among college students with learning disabilities (LD) will be examined. The sample consisted of 438 college students divided into two subgroups: 149 students with LD and 289 Non-LD students. Results indicated that college students with LD reported lower levels of ASE, as well as lower levels of hope subscales and SOC. Persistent challenges of early learning distress experienced by those students during school periods continue to be prevalent during their college years. The ASE was predicted by the personal resources, and the risk factor (tiredness lost its significance). The importance of personal resources (SOC and hope subscales) was further emphasised by the mediation model (PROCESS). They mediated the relationships between LD and ASE. These outcomes call for empowering interventional programmes in order to promote hopeful thinking and personal coherence.     

高校辅导员职业价值观的现状、问题与对策分析——基于辽宁省10所高校的调查

对辽宁省10所高校141名辅导员的调查表明,部分辅导员职业价值目标趋于多元化、功利化,存在较高的职业价值评价和较低的职业价值认同的矛盾性。性别和年龄对于“个人发展”、“个人生活”两个维度有显著差异,学校层次在“个人发展”、“物质保障”维度有显著差异。应构建辅导员职业价值观教育的保障机制。     

Benefits adults experience through participation in continuing higher education

A cross-sectional study of McGill management certificate students investigated the benefits adults experience through continuing education. Four groups totalling 1,234 students were surveyed: entrants, graduates, alumni, and a group who had voluntarily withdrawn. Analysis of benefits anticipated by entrants provided a framework of six categories of benefits: career development, fulfilling external requirements, personal development, networking, gaining knowledge and personal fulfilment. The benefits reported by graduates match the goals of entrants, but the relative importance of the various benefits appears to change during the program. For entrants, career development ranks first as the primary motivation, while more of the graduates focus on personal development, and personal fulfilment. Both entrants and graduates emphasize the importance of gaining knowledge. The results were interpreted in terms of the empowerment provided by continuing education.Interesting differences by various student characteristics were explored. Although equally satisfied with the program's contribution to career development, women report slower advancement than men. Further differences by gender are that women experience more personal development and personal fulfilment. While there are no significant differences by age, students with no prior university education report higher gains in several areas. Knowledge gained, however, is highly valued regardless of prior education. It is those with several years of work experience and those who are most certain of their goals who report acquiring more knowledge than others. These findings have implications for admissions policy, program delivery and design, and support services.     

汉羌彝青少年主观幸福比较研究

探讨民族对青少年主观幸福感的作用特点．采用青少年主观幸福感量表测量了900名汉、羌、彝族青少年的主观幸福感现状,并进行了不同层次的分析．结果表明：汉、羌、彝族青少年的主观幸福感属中等偏上水平．在整体生活满意度、家庭满意度、学校满意度上,彝族青少年均显著高于汉、羌族青少年（P〈0．01）;在学业满意度上,羌族和彝族青少年显著高于汉族青少年（P〈0．01）;在自由满意度上,羌族青少年明显低于彝族青少年（P〈0．05）;在负性情感上,彝族青少年的消极体验显著高于汉、羌族青少年（P〈0．001）．友谊、学校、学业和自由满意度在年级之间和学习成绩优、良、中、差之间均有显著差异,环境满意度在青少年母亲职业上有主效应,主观幸福感各因子在性别、父母亲受教育程度和从事职业上主效应均不明显．从交互作用看,主观幸福感的不同维度在性别与年级、性别与学习成绩、年级与学习成绩之间和青少年父母亲受教育程度、父母亲职业之间的交互作用明显,主观幸福感各维度在性别、年级和学习成绩之间均无交互作用．     

Compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction among Colorado child protection workers

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to understand better the risk of compassion fatigue (the trauma suffered by the helping professional) and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of personal accomplishment), and the potential for compassion satisfaction (the fulfillment from helping others and positive collegial relationships) among Colorado county child protection staff using the Compassion Satisfaction/Fatigue Self-Test [Figley, C. R., & Stamm, B. H. (1996). Psychometric review of Compassion Fatigue Self-Test. In B. H. Stamm (Ed.), Measurement of stress, trauma, and adaptation (pp. 127-130). Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press]. An additional goal was to test the relationship of these three constructs to each other. METHOD: A self-report instrument developed by Stamm and Figley was used to measure the risk of compassion fatigue and burnout and the potential for compassion satisfaction among 363 child protection staff participating in a secondary trauma training seminar. RESULTS: Participants were significantly more likely to have high risk of compassion fatigue, extremely low risk of burnout, and good potential for compassion satisfaction. Participants with high compassion satisfaction had lower levels of compassion fatigue (p=.000; mean=35.73 high compassion satisfaction group, mean=43.56 low group) and lower levels of burnout (p=.000; mean=32.99 high compassion satisfaction group, mean=41.69 low group). CONCLUSION: Approximately 50% of Colorado county child protection staff suffered from "high" or "very high" levels of compassion fatigue. The risk of burnout was considerably lower. More than 70% of staff expressed a "high" or "good" potential for compassion satisfaction. We believe compassion satisfaction may help mitigate the effects of burnout.     

大学生课余生活满意度的实证研究——以四川省某普通高校为例

以四川省某普通高校950个样本为例,对大学生课余生活满意度进行了分析研究。结果表明：当前大学生的课余生活满意度处于基本满意状态;课余生活质量处于较低水平;性别、年级、专业和学习成绩等个人基本属性,以及父母的婚姻状况、文化程度等家庭基本属性都影响着大学生的课余生活满意度。     

Children's illnesses: their beneficial effects on behavioral development

The theme of this presentation concerns the potential beneficial effects of children's illnesses on their behavioral development. Illnesses of a minor nature such as colds and gastrointestinal upsets are frequent events in the lives of all children at every age, but are most frequent in the preschool period. They are generally not life threatening and are managed within the family, day-care center, or school. These illnesses, like other life perturbations, can expand children's personal and social experiences in ways beneficial to their behavioral development. They provide many opportunities for children to increase their knowledge of self, other, prosocial behavior, and empathy, as well as a realistic understanding of the sick role. This knowledge is gained, not only from their personal feelings and social experiences while ill, but also by their observations of siblings, parents, and peers as they become ill and recover, often in quick succession after their own experience. This important subject has seldom been studied from a developmental point of view. The conceptualizations as presented are based on the author's clinical experiences and the existing related research. It is the author's hope that in the future developmental psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and other behavioral scientists will study children's illnesses as part of normal behavioral development.     

试论大学生思想政治教育对儒家思想的借鉴

大学生思想政治教育作为高等教育必修课程,其在现阶段遭遇的严重困境要求施教者认真思考这一课程在大学生知识体系建构中的存在意义,进而重新设计以儒家生命观培养为载体的教育理念,并在这一理念指导下,围绕＂仁、义、礼、智、信、忠、勇、廉、毅、和＂十大儒家义理来开展大学生思想政治教育,使当代大学生的政治观、人生观、价值观皆符合党和国家对高等人才提出的要求,同时也促使大学生个人政治理想和人生理想的真正实现。     

Hope,optimism and loneliness among first-year college students with learning disabilities: a brief longitudinal study

The goals of the study were to examine personal resources and social distress during the first month in college among students with learning disabilities (LD) and to compare their experiences with non-LD peer. The sample consisted of 335 first-year undergraduate students falling into two groups: 85 students with LD and 250 non-LD students. Questionnaires assessed hope, dispositional optimism and loneliness. We hypothesised that, after participation in a single-session hope intervention workshop, the hope and optimism levels of both students with LD and without LD would increase, while their loneliness would decrease. However, after a month of facing the academic and social demands of their new college environment, we expected that the hope and optimism scores of students with LD would be lower than their peers without LD and that their loneliness scores would be higher. As hypothesised, both groups reported enhanced hope and optimism, as well as lower loneliness, immediately after the workshop. However, students with LD – but not their peers – returned to baseline levels of hope and loneliness after a month. Loneliness after a month predicted lower hope, after controlling predictors from the beginning of the year.     

高职特困生生存状态的个案研究——以某高职三名学生为例

伴随着高等教育的大众化,大量特困生享受国家大学生资助政策进入大学校园。以某高职三名特困生为研究对象,采用无结构式访谈的研究方法,从他们在校经济收入、消费支出、学习生活状况以及心理健康状况等多视角来探讨特困生的生存状态,结果表明特困生社会支持资源缺乏,收入来源有限,消费支出项目多,生活压力大;无偿资助造成心理困扰,他们更渴望有偿资助和匿名资助;因兼职打工多,影响学业和发展;他们心理状态有好的特质,但心理健康水平欠佳。     

Women in STEM Majors and Professional Outcome Expectations: The Role of Living-Learning Programs and Other College Environments

Using data from the 2004–2007 National Study of Living Learning Programs, the only national dataset offering longitudinal information on outcomes associated with living-learning (L/L) program participation, this study investigated the role of L/L programs and other college environments in the professional outcome expectations of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Specifically, we examined an overall measure of professional outcome expectations, along with participants’ anticipation of the chances that they will “get a good job in their field,” “achieve success in their career,” and “combine a professional career with having a balanced personal life.” Findings indicated that attending a coeducational STEM L/L program and discussing academic and career issues with peers were positively related with three of the outcome measures. Additional findings spoke to the importance of self-efficacy and interactions with diverse peers in the development of professional outcome expectations among women in STEM. Implications are presented for higher education institutions’ efforts to support coeducational and women-only STEM-related L/L programs, peer and faculty interactions, and diverse peer interactions.     

PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS RELATED TO RETENTION AND EARLY DEPARTURE OF TWO-YEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

The present study is based on the theoretical model of college retention developed by Tinto (1975, 1987, 1993) and subsequent validation efforts of others (Bers and Smith, 1991; Munro, 1981; Pascarella and Chapman, 1983a, b; Pascarella and Terenzini, 1983, 1991). The first goal of the study was to assess the validity of the model on a two-year community college sample. The second goal was to extend and further refine the model by examining the mediational influences of a comprehensive set of psychosocial measures (i.e., life events occurring during the first semester of college, social support, self-esteem, social competence, personal conscientiousness, psychological well-being, and satisfaction with the academic, administrative, and social systems of college) on the constructs within Tinto's (1987, 1993) model. Results confirm the generalizability of the model to two-year community college populations. In addition, the structural equations model revealed that the psychosocial measures have both direct and indirect effects on college persistence.     

Neighborhood inequality in the prevalence of reported and substantiated child maltreatment

BackgroundPrior research documents spatial concentration in the incidence of child maltreatment reported to and confirmed by Child Protective Services (CPS), but without estimates of the prevalence of such reports, the extent of CPS contact in different communities is unknown.ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of CPS reports during early childhood and substantiated investigations during childhood for children living in different types of neighborhoods.Participants and settingChildren who experienced CPS reports and substantiated investigations in Connecticut.MethodsThis study uses synthetic cohort life tables to estimate the cumulative risk of CPS reports before age five and substantiated CPS investigations before age 18, by neighborhood poverty rate and neighborhood racial composition.ResultsThe analysis reveals substantial stratification in the prevalence of CPS contact by the demographic characteristics of children’s residential neighborhoods. For example, while 7% of children in low-poverty neighborhoods (under 10% poor) experience a substantiated CPS investigation at some point during childhood at 2014 and 2015 rates, this risk more than doubles to 17% for their peers in moderate-poverty neighborhoods (10–20% poor) and more than triples to 26% for their peers in high-poverty neighborhoods (over 20% poor). Similar trends emerge when examining CPS reports in early childhood as well as when comparing neighborhoods with different proportions of White residents.ConclusionsCPS reports and substantiated investigations are a widespread and disproportionately experienced life event for children in poor neighborhoods and children in non-White neighborhoods.     

Editorial Introduction

About one in four college students report grieving the death of a family member or close friend within the past year. Although grief may be difficult at any time, there are several factors unique to the college age and environment that can make it particularly difficult. These factors include geographic distance from home and usual support systems, academic demands, college's “carefree” social life, lack of grief support from peers, and many college campuses' limited resources for grief support. Thus, grieving college students are at greater risk than their peers of a host of academic, social, and developmental issues. In spite of this “silent epidemic,” few targeted, supportive interventions existed on college campuses until 2006, when National Students of AMF was created by grieving college students to support their fellow grieving students. National Students of AMF primarily achieves its mission by creating Campus Chapters, which are university-recognized student organizations. They include a targeted, peer-led Support Group for grieving students to connect with others who “get it” and a Service Group that encourages students to channel their grief towards championing causes that have impacted them. Abundant anecdotal evidence suggests that students, especially males, who shy away from support groups and professional counseling, have found participation in service activities in honor of deceased loved ones to be a preferable therapeutic outlet. Campus Chapters also leverage the “student voice” to promote the other, often underutilized supportive grief resources on campus. Today, there are 43 university-recognized Campus Chapters. In this article, we discuss findings and outline several vital steps that university counselors and administrators can take to facilitate the continued growth of supportive outlets, like National Students of AMF, for grieving college students.