The effects of familial acculturative stress and hopelessness on suicidal ideation by immigration status among college students

Objectives: Based on acculturative family distancing theory, we examined whether familial acculturative stress interacted with hopelessness to predict suicidal ideation differentially among emerging adult immigrant versus nonimmigrant college students. Participants: We recruited 152 generationally and racially/ethnically diverse college students (42 immigrants) from 2012 to 2013. Methods: Participants completed measures of hopelessness, depressive symptoms, ethnic identity, familial acculturative stress, and suicidal ideation. Results: Immigrant status interacted with hopelessness and familial acculturative stress. Hopelessness was associated with less suicidal ideation among immigrants than among nonimmigrants at a familial acculturative stress score below the 11th percentile, but greater suicidal ideation among immigrants than among nonimmigrants at a familial acculturative stress score above the 72nd percentile. Conclusions: Familial acculturative stress may exacerbate the effect of hopelessness on suicidal ideation among immigrant college students, and should be monitored during suicide risk assessment and treatment.     

Self-compassion and suicidal behavior in college students: Serial indirect effects via depression and wellness behaviors

Objective: College students may be at heightened risk for suicide and suicidal behavior due to maladaptive cognitive-emotional factors and failure to practice basic health behaviors. However, self-compassion and wellness behaviors may protect against risk. The relation between self-compassion and suicidal behavior and the contributing roles of depressive symptoms and wellness behaviors was examined. Participants: Participants were 365 undergraduate students. Data were collected in April 2015. Methods: A cross-sectional, survey design was employed. Participants completed measures assessing self-compassion, depressive symptoms, wellness behaviors, and suicidal behavior. Serial mediation analyses were conducted covarying age, sex, and ethnicity. Results: Self-compassion was inversely related to suicidal behavior, and this relationship was serially mediated by depressive symptoms and wellness behaviors. Conclusions: Self-compassion may protect against suicidal behavior, in part, due to reduced depressive symptoms and heightened engagement in wellness behaviors. Individual and campus-wide strategies promoting self-compassion and wellness behaviors may reduce suicide risk on college campuses.     

Predictors of suicidal ideation among college students: A prospective cohort study

ABSTRACT

This prospective cohort study investigated longitudinal predictors of suicidal ideation among college students. A non-clinical cohort of college students (N = 171) completed baseline and 3-month follow-up surveys. Depressive symptoms, worst-point suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt history significantly predicted follow-up suicidal ideation severity after adjusting covariates. Similarly, depressive symptoms and worst-point suicidal ideation (but not attempt history) were significant predictors of follow-up suicidal ideation intensity in an adjusted model. The results suggest that current depressive symptoms and lifetime worst-point suicidal ideation are independently valuable constructs that may provide relatively short-term predictive information when screening for suicidal ideation among college students.     

Spiritual Well-Being and Suicidal Ideation Among College Students

Objective: This study explored whether specific dimensions of spiritual well-being (religious well-being and existential well-being) relate to reduced suicidal ideation, and whether associations persisted after controlling for religiosity and psychosocial variables associated with suicide. Participants: Participants were 457 college students who completed measures that assessed spiritual well-being, religiosity, hopelessness, depression, social support, and suicidal ideation. Methods: The authors used linear regression modeling to assess religious and spiritual correlates of suicidal ideation. Results: After controlling for demographic variables and psychosocial factors, neither involvement in organized religion nor religious well-being significantly contributed to suicidal ideation. However, even after controlling for significant correlates, existential well-being remained a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. Conclusions: This investigation highlighted existential well-being as an important factor associated with lower levels of suicidal ideation among college students. Findings from this study focusing on the association between spiritual well-being and suicidality may prove especially beneficial to suicide prevention efforts.     

Depressive Symptoms and Mental Health Treatment in an Ethnoracially Diverse College Student Sample

Abstract

Objectives: To study (a) the prevalence of depressive symptoms and (b) the utilization of mental health treatment in an ethnoracially diverse sample consisting primarily of Asian Americans, European Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Participants: Five hundred eighty-nine college students. Method: A questionnaire packet that included the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to students in introductory psychology courses. Results: (a) There were no differences among ethnoracial groups in levels of depressive symptoms as measured by the CES-D; (b) 71% of participants with high levels of depressive symptoms had not received any mental health treatment in the previous 12 months; and (c) European Americans were 3.7 times more likely to have received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months than other students. Conclusion: Outreach efforts designed to improve utilization of mental health treatment services by depressed college students, especially by members of ethnoracial minority groups, should be increased.     

Depressive Symptoms and Cigarette Smoking in a College Sample

Objective and Participants: The authors examined (1) the relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking in a college sample and (2) the role of smoking self-efficacy (one's perceived ability to abstain from smoking) in explaining the relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking. Methods: Predominantly first-year college students at a large public university completed a self-report inventory indexing depressive symptoms, cigarette smoking, and smoking self-efficacy. Results: Findings indicated that students high in depressive symptoms smoked significantly more cigarettes per day than did those with low depressive symptoms. Further, among current smokers, smoking self-efficacy explained the relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking. Conclusions: These findings add to accumulating evidence that depressive symptoms are a risk factor for increased cigarette smoking in college students. The authors discuss implications for university-based smoking cessation and prevention programs.     

Suicide Ideation Among College Students Evidencing Subclinical Depression

Abstract

Identifying elevated suicide ideation in college students is a critical step in preventing suicide attempts and deaths by suicide on college campuses. Although suicide ideation may be most prominent in students with severe depression, this should not suggest that only students with severe depression experience significant risk factors for suicide. Objective: The purpose of these 3 studies was to explore the relation between suicide ideation and severity of depressive symptoms in college students. Participants: In each study a sample of college students were recruited for participation. Methods: Participants completed self-report assessments of depressive symptoms and suicide ideation. Results: The results of these studies suggest that although the greatest elevation in suicide ideation occurs at the highest depressive symptoms, significant suicide ideation is also experienced by college students with mild and moderate depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The implications of these findings for the assessment of suicide ideation are discussed.     

Mental Health Treatment Barriers Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Versus White Young Adults 6 Months After Intake at a College Counseling Center

Abstract

Objective: This study examined mental health treatment barriers following intake at a counseling center among racially/ethnically diverse college students. Methods: College students (N = 122) seen for intake at a college counseling center in 2012–2013 completed self-reports of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and mental health treatment barriers 6 months later. Results: Racial/ethnic minority students less often reported previous mental health treatment and treatment after being seen at the counseling center, compared with white students. They also endorsed more treatment barriers—most commonly, financial concerns and lack of time—and more often endorsed stigma-related concerns. Treatment barriers were associated with not following through with counseling center recommendations and with greater depressive symptom severity but not with suicidal ideation during follow-up. Conclusions: Improving mental health treatment seeking among racial/ethnic minority college students should involve decreasing treatment barriers, improving access to affordable options, providing flexible scheduling or time-limited options, and decreasing stigma.,     

The State of the Union: Sexual Health Disparities in a National Sample of US College Students

Abstract

Objective: To examine sexual health disparities between blacks and whites in a national sample of US college students. Participants and Method Summary: Analyses utilized secondary data from 44,165 nonmarried undergraduates (aged 18–24; M = 20.1) responding to the Spring 2007 American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment; 64% were female and 94.7% were white. Results: Whites reported more experience in oral and anal sex, were less likely to use condoms for oral, anal, and vaginal sex, and less likely to have been tested for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) compared with blacks. However, blacks reported more sex partners, lower use of hormonal contraceptives, and higher rates of adverse sexual health outcomes, such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy. Sexual behaviors and outcomes also varied across gender. Conclusions: This study highlights a need to increase access to hormonal contraceptives and early STI screening/treatment among blacks, improve HIV testing among whites, and increase condom use promotion for all students.     

Development and Initial Validation of the Symptoms and Assets Screening Scale

Abstract

Objective: To develop and test a screening measure of mental health symptoms and well-being in college students, the Symptoms and Assets Screening Scale (SASS). Participants: Participants were 758 college students at 2 universities in the Northwest sampled between October 2009 and April 2011. Methods: Participants completed the SASS, as well as measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, substance problems, and eating problems in 1 session. A subset of participants (n = 259) completed the SASS 1 to 2 weeks later to allow an examination of test–retest stability. Results: The SASS demonstrated good reliability and validity and appears to assess similar constructs as well-established measures in college students. Fifty-nine percent of the sample reported having problems with their thoughts, behaviors, or emotions, whereas only 9.7% reported currently receiving treatment. Conclusions: The SASS is a brief instrument that has the potential to effectively screen for the most prevalent mental health problems in college students.     

Different pathways explain alcohol-related problems in female and male college students

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Comprehensive models elucidating the intricate associations of depressive symptoms, coping motives, alcohol use, alcohol-related problems (ARPs), and gender among young adults have been scarcely examined. This study investigated relationships among these variables and the effect of gender on these pathways. Methods: College students (N = 163; 49.7% female) completed self-report measures on alcohol consumption, depressive symptoms, coping motives, and ARPs. Results: Structural equation modeling showed that the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs was mediated by coping motives in both females and males. However, frequency of heavy alcohol use mediated the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs in females but not in males. Conclusions: Different models explain the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs in male and female college students. Prevention programs aimed at reducing ARPs should focus on increasing alcohol screening among students with depressive symptoms, teaching coping skills, and emphasizing moderation in alcohol consumption.     

A pilot study of a preventive program for depressive and anxious symptoms during the postsecondary transition

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of the indicated level of the prevention program Zenétudes: making a healthy transition to college on anxious and depressive symptoms. Participants: 65 college students participated in the study, from September 2014 to August 2016. From that initial sample, 53 students (ages 16–34) were included in analyses. Methods: First-year students were screened for anxious and depressive symptoms at the beginning of their semester. Students who scored higher than the cutoff score were invited to be part of the study. Both treatment and comparison groups completed pretest, post-test, and follow-up questionnaires. Results: Results show significant differences between treatment and comparison groups in both depressive and anxious symptoms at follow-up. Conclusion: The results of this pilot study support the positive effects of Zenétudes on anxious and depressive symptoms. Larger studies should be conducted to identify which components of the program mediate its efficacy.     

Anger Expression Mode,Depressive Symptoms,Hopelessness, and Decision Coping among African American Adolescents

This study examined the relationship between anger expression mode, depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and decision coping patterns among a non-clinical community sample of 276 low-income African American adolescents (mean age = 14.47). Participants were students in sixth through tenth grades enrolled in health and wellness classes in two public schools in West Tennessee. They were asked to complete a battery of instruments including the Anger Style Inventory, Children's Depression Inventory, Hopelessness Scale for Children, and Flinders Adolescent Decision Making Questionnaire. Findings indicate a significant association between anger expression mode, depressive symptomatology, hopelessness, and decision coping pattern among study participants. Gender and screening positive for depressive symptoms predicted participant's anger response mode. Using multiple assessment scales may provide useful information toward preventing the onset of clinically significant emotional disorders among adolescents.     

A multivariate analysis of adverse childhood experiences and health behaviors and outcomes among college students

Objective: This study investigated associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) prior to age 18 years and multiple health behaviors (eg, cigarette and other substance use) and outcomes (eg, obesity, depression) for a large college sample. Participants: 2,969 college students from seven universities in the state of Georgia were included in the analysis. Methods: Web-based surveys were completed by students (45–60 minutes) during the spring semester, 2015. Results: Findings indicate that more ACEs are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, ADHD symptoms, cigarette use, alcohol use, marijuana use, and BMI, in addition to lower levels of fruit and vegetable intake, and sleep. Conclusion: ACEs may carry forward in the lifespan to influence a range of unhealthy outcomes among college students. College intervention programs may benefit by recognizing the pervasiveness of ACEs and their associations with health behaviors and outcomes, and include interventions across more than one health behavior.     

Mindfulness moderates the relation between trauma and anxiety symptoms in college students

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.     

Can weight predict academic performance in college students? An analysis of college women's self-efficacy,absenteeism, and depressive symptoms as mediators

Over a third of American college students are either overweight or obese, which has been suggested to negatively impact their academic achievement. Objective: This study seeks to better understand the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and grade point average (GPA), while examining potential mediators of this association. Participants and Methods: The sample consists of 298 college women who volunteered to complete online questionnaires between October and December 2014. Results: Although no significant differences were noted for sociodemographic variables, overweight and obese female students were found to report lower GPA and academic self-efficacy as well as higher depressive symptoms, compared with their normal-weight counterparts. Academic self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between BMI and GPA. Conclusions: To foster better academic achievement in female college students, and especially for those who are overweight and obese, strategies for improving self-efficacy and adaptation to college should be implemented.     

Anxiety and depression among college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Cross-informant,sex, and subtype differences

Objective: This study examined symptoms of anxiety and depression among college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants: Data were collected between March 2011 and March 2016 from 150 college students with ADHD and 150 college students without ADHD. Method: Participants with ADHD were compared to a sex- and ethnicity-matched control group. For the ADHD group, parent and self-report of anxiety and depression were also compared. Results: College students with ADHD self-reported significantly higher anxiety and depressive symptoms than did students without ADHD. Scores on parent-report measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms were significantly higher than scores on self-report measures. Significant sex differences were found for participants with ADHD, with females showing higher depressive and anxiety symptoms than males. Parent-reported anxiety symptoms were higher for those with inattentive type ADHD compared to combined type ADHD. Conclusion: The current study highlights the importance of multi-informant assessment in ADHD evaluations for college-aged adults.     

Prevalence and predictors of PTSD among a college sample

Objective:This study examined the prevalence and correlates of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in freshman entering college and prospective associations of probable PTSD with additional outcomes. Participants: 2,310 students with data collected from Fall 2014 through Spring 2015. Methods: Incoming freshman completed a survey assessing for relevant variables at the beginning of fall semester and during the spring semester. Results: Seventy percent of the sample endorsed experiencing at least one potentially traumatic event (PTE). 34.4% of PTE exposed individuals met criteria for probable PTSD. Female sex, higher depressive and anxiety symptoms, and interpersonal PTE count were positively associated with PTSD symptoms. Higher PTSD symptoms were associated with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms, and new-onset interpersonal PTE. Conclusions: Identification of factors contributing to risk for PTSD is essential to inform prevention and intervention efforts. Intervention efforts should be targeted to students experiencing PTSD symptoms as they enter college.     

Depression as a mediator in the relationship between perceived familial criticism and college adaptation

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study examined relationships among emerging adults' perceived familial criticism, their depressive symptoms, and their college adaptation. Participants: The current study examined the responses of 412 emerging adults (300 females and 112 males) who were college students at a large southeastern university. The majority of these emerging adults were Caucasian, but the remainder were from a broad range of racial backgrounds. Methods: Participants completed the Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale as a measure of their familial criticism, the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire as a measure of their college adaptation, and the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition as a measure of their depression. Results: Results were examined using correlational and regression analyses in the context of Baron and Kenny's (J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;51:1173–1182) method for determining mediation. Results suggested that for female emerging adults, the relationship between perceived familial criticism and college adaptation was mediated significantly by depressive symptoms. In contrast, this pattern of results did not hold for male emerging adults. Conclusions: Given these findings, emerging adults' depressive symptoms may serve as a useful proximal target for psychotherapeutic interventions meant to improve adaptation to college (particularly for female emerging adults), even in the context of high levels of perceived familial criticism from emerging adults' family of origin.     

Worry and rumination: Explanatory roles in the relation between pain and anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students with pain

Objective: Pain affects a significant proportion of college students in the United States and has been linked to anxiety and depressive symptoms. Rumination and worry, two transdiagnostic factors linked to comorbidity, may explain the relationship between pain and mental health symptoms.

Current Study: The current study examined worry and rumination as explanatory factors in the relationship between pain and anxiety and depressive symptoms in a sample of college students with pain (n?=?1,577; 79.9% female).

Results: Results indicated that both rumination and worry explained the relationship between pain and depressive and social anxiety symptoms, while rumination alone explained the relationship between pain and anxious arousal symptoms.

Conclusion: The current study provides novel empirical evidence that worry and rumination each help explain the relationship between pain and anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students with current pain, and college students in pain may benefit from targeted psychosocial strategies aimed at decreasing worry and ruminative responses.