First-generation College Students’ Mental Health Through the Lens of Sense of Belonging and Year in School: Implications for College and School Counselors
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Sönmez, Semra
- Graduate Program:
- Counselor Education
- Degree:
- Master of Education
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- June 13, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Julia Bryan, Committee Member
Jeffrey Hayes, Committee Member
Janice Byrd, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Elizabeth Prosek, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies - Keywords:
- first-generation college students
sense of belonging
depression
anxiety
loneliness
flourishing
year-in-school - Abstract:
- This study delves into the mental health challenges faced by First Generation College Students (FGCSs), particularly focusing on how their sense of belonging and year in school influences their mental health. Using the 2022-2023 dataset from the Healthy Minds Study, the research employed simple regression, multiple regression, and hierarchical regression analyses conducted via R-Studio to explore the associations between generational status and mental health. The results of the research can be grouped into three key categories. First, sense of belonging emerged as a significant predictor of various mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, and flourishing among FGCSs. This result highlights the important role of belonging for mental health among FGCSs. Secondly, the study revealed that sense of belonging mediates the relationship between a student's generational status and their mental health. Considering the groups in terms of generational status, results indicate that FGCSs tend to have a lower sense of belonging compared to continuing generation college students (CGCSs), which subsequently leads to higher depression, anxiety, loneliness and lower flourishing. Lastly, the results of the third question indicate that the year in school moderates the relationship between generational status and depression, and between generational status and anxiety while it does not moderate the relationship between generational status and loneliness, nor does it moderate the relationship between generational status and flourishing. FGCSs who are in their first two-year of college reported higher depression and anxiety scores than CGCSs in the same years, and difference in depression and anxiety mean scores between FGCSs and CGCSs were more pronounced in the first two years of schooling. Based on the results, implications for college and school counselors are presented.