A cross-sectional investigation of parenting style and friendship as mediators of the relation between social class and mental health in a university community

Moderated moderation modelling of subjective social status, pocket money and depressive symptoms of university students in Ghana

Introduction

Although the relationship between subjective social status and depression in university students has been well-established, this association could be seen as a spurious one. Previous studies have shown that key variables like financial resources and age could play key roles in explaining the variances in social status and mental health outcomes. In this research, we assessed the complex interrelationships between subjective social status, financial resources at their disposal and depressive symptoms among university students within their young and middle adulthood stages.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a university in Ghana to sample 1134 university students through accidental sampling. The McArthur Scale and WHO-5 Well-being measure were used for the data collection.

Results

The results revealed that higher levels of subjective social status were associated with lower levels of depression. It was further found that the interaction between students' pocket money and age played unique roles in the relationship between subjective social status and depression.

Conclusion

The study findings call on stakeholders in education to explore funding opportunities and to examine ways of empowering parents (financially) to adequately support the students. Health educationists and promoters, including psychologists, school counsellors and parents could compliment these efforts by helping to train and empower students through self-regulation or management skills to help improve their well-being. Continuous efforts are required to improve the financial status and mental health of students.

Family Background Issues as Predictors of Mental Health Problems for University Students

Mental health problems are common among university students. Specific type of family background is one of the important factors contributing to these problems. This study aimed to evaluate the proportion of severe mental health problems and the associations between severity and types of problems and family backgrounds. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. We reviewed the database and medical records of 125 university students aged over 18 years who attended the mental health consultation clinic for university students, 123 Primary Care Unit, Khon Kaen University, between 1 January and 31 December 2018. The characteristics of the participants were summarized using descriptive statistics. We performed an analysis using logistic regression to obtain the crude and adjusted odds ratio. The proportion of severe mental health problems was 50.4%. The most common problem was learning problems (54.4%). The severity of the problems reported by the students was associated with communication failure in the family (AOR = 3.30 [95% CI: 1.14-9.52], p = 0.027). All students who experienced domestic violence in their family had severe mental health problems. This study re-appraised the utility of the context of the family as a predictor of current problems of university students.

Correlates of stress are interactive and not unidimensional: Evidence from U.S. college students early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Studies have investigated various aspects of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted college students' well-being. However, the complex relationships between stress and its correlates have received limited attention. Thus, the main objective of this study is to evaluate multiplicative associations between stress and demographic, lifestyle, and other negative emotion factors during the pandemic. We used data from a survey with 2,534 students enrolled in seven U.S. universities and analyzed such data with generalized additive Tobit models and pairwise interaction terms. The results highlighted associations and interactions between myriad factors such as students' social class, income, parental education, body mass index (BMI), amount of exercise, and knowing infected people in the student's communities. For instance, we found that the associations between feeling irritable and sad due to the pandemic were interactive, resulting in higher associated stress for students with higher levels of parents' education. Furthermore, associations between taking precautionary actions (i.e., avoiding travel and large gatherings) and stress varied with the intensity of negative feelings (i.e., sadness and irritability). Considering these interaction terms, the results highlighted a great inequality in pandemic-related stress within low income, lower social class, and higher BMI students. This study is among the earliest that employed a stratified approach with numerous interaction terms to better understand the multiplicative associations between different factors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Behavioral and emotional adaptations of obese and underweight students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Previous studies have investigated the effects of COVID-19 on the general population of college students. However, research evaluating the complex behavioral and psychological impact of the pandemic on both obese and underweight students is currently limited. We used data from a survey conducted from March to April 2020 across 2534 students enrolled in seven US universities. We examined whether the associations between taking various behaviors and being obese and underweight students are unidimensional, or varies based on various negative emotions, and their sociodemographic characteristics. Also, we checked whether emotions of obese and underweight groups are impaired, which consequently might impact taking various cautionary behaviors. The results highlight complex relationships between being obese and underweight students and other considered variables. For instance, despite the associated risk, it was found that obese students are associated with less fear, guilt and irritability due to the pandemic. However, those associations vary based on factors such as level of educations. In addition, while obese students are less likely to avoid a large group of people, the impact changes based on gender. Lack of precautions and emotions is despite the increased risk of hospitalization and death associated with obese and underweight groups. Finally, it was found that there are negative and stable associations between higher social class, income, and the lower likelihood of being obese or underweight. Significant differences and similarities were also found across factors to obese and underweight students.

Authoritative Parenting Style and Proactive Behaviors: Evidence from China?

Parenting style plays an important role in children’s development. This study examines the influence mechanism of authoritative parenting style on individuals’ proactive behavior. We propose a chain mediation model for the linkage between authoritative parenting style and proactive behavior through self-esteem and growth mindset. Based on a survey of 388 undergraduate students in coastal areas of China, we find a significant positive impact of authoritative parenting style on college students’ proactive behavior. In addition, our study provides evidence of a chain mediation effect on the relation among authoritative parenting style, self-esteem, growth mindset, and proactive behavior. Our results suggest that under authoritative parenting, individuals can stimulate more proactive behaviors by improving their self-esteem and developing their growth mindset.

Go for it! Exercising makes you happy and strong

Despite it is generally recognized the beneficial role of physical activity, large portion of the population is physically inactive. Very alarmingly, the well-known gender gap in physical activity is constantly increasing. Several barriers obstacle women to perform physical activity although exercising would be of paramount importance for their health in particular during pregnancy and menopause. In addition to physical health benefits, physical activity may influence well-being and resilience, greatly impacting on quality of life.

Here we explore the relationship between physical activity resilience and well-being in a group of 1107 female residents in the Metropolitan area of Naples.

In a Class on Their Own: Investigating the Role of Social Integration in the Association Between Social Class and Mental Well-Being

It has been established that people from lower social classes tend to have poorer mental well-being compared with people from higher classes. Research also suggests that people from the lower classes are also less socially integrated. This research investigated the role of social integration in the relationship between social class and mental well-being across three studies (Study 1 N = 15,028; Study 2 N = 1,946; Study 3 N = 461). Across all studies, social class had an indirect effect on mental well-being via social integration. Moderation results found that social integration buffers the negative impact of financial issues on mental well-being, social support buffers the effects of class on mental ill-health, and family support amplifies rather than reduces social class differences in mental well-being. We propose that although improving social integration has the potential to improve the mental well-being of lower class populations, some caveats need to be considered.

Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States

BACKGROUND

University students are increasingly recognized as a vulnerable population, suffering from higher levels of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and disordered eating compared to the general population. Therefore, when the nature of their educational experience radically changes-such as sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic-the burden on the mental health of this vulnerable population is amplified. The objectives of this study are to 1) identify the array of psychological impacts COVID-19 has on students, 2) develop profiles to characterize students' anticipated levels of psychological impact during the pandemic, and 3) evaluate potential sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and awareness of people infected with COVID-19 risk factors that could make students more likely to experience these impacts.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were collected through web-based questionnaires from seven U.S. universities. Representative and convenience sampling was used to invite students to complete the questionnaires in mid-March to early-May 2020, when most coronavirus-related sheltering in place orders were in effect. We received 2,534 completed responses, of which 61% were from women, 79% from non-Hispanic Whites, and 20% from graduate students.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis on close-ended responses resulted in two latent constructs, which we used to identify profiles of students with latent profile analysis, including high (45% of sample), moderate (40%), and low (14%) levels of psychological impact. Bivariate associations showed students who were women, were non-Hispanic Asian, in fair/poor health, of below-average relative family income, or who knew someone infected with COVID-19 experienced higher levels of psychological impact. Students who were non-Hispanic White, above-average social class, spent at least two hours outside, or less than eight hours on electronic screens were likely to experience lower levels of psychological impact. Multivariate modeling (mixed-effects logistic regression) showed that being a woman, having fair/poor general health status, being 18 to 24 years old, spending 8 or more hours on screens daily, and knowing someone infected predicted higher levels of psychological impact when risk factors were considered simultaneously.

CONCLUSION

Inadequate efforts to recognize and address college students' mental health challenges, especially during a pandemic, could have long-term consequences on their health and education.

Explaining the association between subjective social status and mental health among university students using an impact ratings approach

Previous research has found a positive association between social class and mental health among university students. Various mediators of this association have been proposed. However, the extent to which students perceive these mediators as having an impact on their mental health has not been investigated. It is important to investigate this issue because students who do not perceive issues as having an impact on their mental health may not be motivated to address those issues. In the current study, 402 first-year undergraduate psychology students from a large Australian university indicated the extent to which 32 issues had a negative impact on their mental health over the past six months. Students rated lack of money, time management, coursework assessment items, lack of sleep, and course marks as having the largest impact on their mental health. Lack of money and time management mediated the positive association between subjective social status and mental health over (a) the past week and (b) the past month. Coursework assessment items and course marks mediated the positive association between subjective social status and satisfaction with the university experience. It is concluded that interventions should focus on these relatively high impact issues in order to address social class differences in students' mental health and university satisfaction.

Participation to Leisure Activities and Well-Being in a Group of Residents of Naples-Italy: The Role of Resilience

We explored the relationship between cultural and social participation, physical activity, and well-being in a group of residents of the metropolitan area of Naples, Italy and the role that resilience plays in this relationship. Naples offers a remarkable urban environment with the potentially beneficial psychological effects of outstanding natural beauty, and one of the world’s most impressive repositories of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. However, Naples was also, and still is, heavily affected by the 2008 economic crisis, in addition to preexisting social and economic issues. The major finding of this study is that, despite this highly contrasting urban environment, the combination of physical activity and engagement in social and cultural activities has a positive effect on subjective (self-reported) psychological well-being (SPWB) in a group of residents, and that resilience mediates this relationship.

Elaborating the Connection between Social Class and Classism in College

Scholarship has documented the challenges that face college students of marginalized economic backgrounds, an issue that is relevant for Community Psychology because of the field's commitment to social justice. Community psychologists are concerned with facilitating access to social resources such as education across the full range of social identities. The current study builds on recent research that has identified the key role of classism in students' struggles. We developed a new measure of college student financial stress in order to investigate the relationship between indices of social class (financial stress, subjective social status, and parental education) and indices of classism (institutional, interpersonal, and citational). We also explored whether race or immigration status moderated these relationships in a sample of diverse students (N = 278). Findings show that students' current financial stress has the strongest relationship with classism, and immigration status moderates the exposure to citational classism. Specifically, we found evidence for perpetuation of classism among U.S. born students higher on the social class ladder. Implications for future research include the importance of considering multiple domains of social class, studying social class in a context-specific way, and differentiating dimensions of classism. Findings also suggest that financial stress is an important focus in the work to support marginalized students, and that classist narratives need to be addressed among students of higher social class.

Kill or cure? Different types of social class identification amplify and buffer the relation between social class and mental health

The present research investigated different types of social class identification as moderators of the negative relation between social class and mental health problems. Psychology undergraduates (N = 355) completed an online survey that included measures of social class, mental health and well-being, and three aspects of social class identification: importance of identity, salience of identity, and perceived self-class similarity. Perceived self-class similarity buffered the negative association between social class and depressive symptoms. However, importance and salience of social class identity amplified the associations between social class and anxiety and life satisfaction. These findings contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of the way in which social identification may operate as a social cure.