scholarly journals Psychometric Assessment of the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Linden ◽  
Heather Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Secondary Student ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Post Secondary Students

Abstract Background: Previous research has linked excessive stress among post-secondary students to poor academic performance and poor mental health. Despite attempts to ameliorate mental health challenges at post-secondary institutions, there exists a gap in the evaluation of the specific sources of stress for students within the post-secondary setting. Methods: The goal of this study was to develop a new instrument to better assess the sources of post-secondary student stress. Over the course of two years, the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI) was created in collaboration with post-secondary students as co-developers and subject matter experts. In this study, we used a combination of individual cognitive interviews (n = 11), an online consensus survey modeled after a traditional Delphi method (n = 65), and an online pre- (n = 535) and post-test (n = 350) survey to psychometrically evaluate the PSSI using samples of students from Ontario, Canada. We collected four types of evidence for validity, including: content evidence, response processes evidence, internal structure evidence, and relations to other variables. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was also evaluated. Results: The PSSI demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Content validation and response processes evidence was derived from active student involvement throughout the development and refinement of the tool. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that the structure of the PSSI reflects the internal structure of an index, rather than a scale, as expected. Test-retest reliability of the instrument was comparable to existing, established instruments. Finally, the PSSI demonstrated good relationships with like measures of stress, distress, and resilience, in the hypothesized directions. Conclusions: The PSSI is a 46-item inventory that will allow post-secondary institutions to pinpoint the most severe and frequently occurring stressors on their campus. This knowledge will facilitate appropriate targeting of priority areas, and help institutions to better align their mental health promotion and mental illness prevention programming with the needs of their campus.

scholarly journals Psychometric Assessment of the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Linden ◽  
Heather Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Secondary Student ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Post Secondary Students

Abstract Background: Previous research has linked excessive stress among post-secondary students to poor academic performance and poor mental health. Despite attempts to ameliorate mental health challenges at post-secondary institutions, there exists a gap in the evaluation of the specific sources of stress for students within the post-secondary setting. Methods: The goal of this study was to develop a new instrument to better assess the sources of post-secondary student stress. Over the course of two years, the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI) was created in collaboration with post-secondary students as co-developers and subject matter experts. In this study, we used a combination of individual cognitive interviews (n = 11), an online consensus survey modeled after a traditional Delphi method (n = 65), and an online pre- (n = 535) and post-test (n = 350) survey to psychometrically evaluate the PSSI using samples of students from Ontario, Canada. We collected four types of evidence for validity, including: content evidence, response processes evidence, internal structure evidence, and relations to other variables. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was also evaluated. Results: The PSSI demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Content validation and response processes evidence was derived from active student involvement throughout the development and refinement of the tool. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that the structure of the PSSI reflects the internal structure of an index, rather than a scale, as expected. Test-retest reliability of the instrument was comparable to existing, established instruments. Finally, the PSSI demonstrated good relationships with like measures of stress, distress, and resilience, in the hypothesized directions. Conclusions: The PSSI is a 46-item inventory that will allow post-secondary institutions to pinpoint the most severe and frequently occurring stressors on their campus. This knowledge will facilitate appropriate targeting of priority areas, and help institutions to better align their mental health promotion and mental illness prevention programming with the needs of their campus.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Trend Analysis of the NCHA II Survey Data on Canadian Post-Secondary Student Mental Health and Wellbeing from 2013 to 2019

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Linden ◽  
Randall Boyes ◽  
Heather Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Post Secondary Students

BACKGROUND: Canadian post-secondary students are considered to be at risk for chronic stress and languishing mental health, but there has been no longitudinal analysis of the available population-level data. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in the overall and sex-specific prevalence of self-reported stress, distress, mental illness, and help seeking behaviours among Canadian post-secondary students over the past several years. METHODS: Using the 2013, 2016, and 2019 iterations of the National College Health Assessment II Canadian Reference data, we conducted a trend analysis for each variable of interest, stratified by sex. The significance and magnitude of the changes were modelled using cumulative linked ordinal regression models and log binomial regression models.RESULTS: With few exceptions, we observed significant increases over time in the proportion of students reporting symptoms of psychological distress, mental illness diagnoses, and help seeking for mental health related challenges. Female students reported a higher level of stress than male students, with a statistically significant increase in the stress level reported by female students observed over time. In all cases, larger proportions of female students were observed compared to male students, with the proportion of female students who self-reported mental illness diagnoses nearly doubling that of males. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicated that the proportion of students self-reporting mental health related challenges, including stress, psychological distress, and diagnosed mental illnesses increased between the 2013, 2016 and 2019 iterations of the NCHA II conducted among Canadian post-secondary students.

“It was a Meaningless Job”: Exploring Youth Post-Secondary Students’ Employment in the Fast Food Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-298
Author(s):  
Julia Woodhall-Melnik
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Secondary Student ◽  
Fast Food Industry ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Student Workers ◽  
Food Workers ◽  
Post Secondary Students

Fast food work is often described as low-skilled, alienating, standardized, and highly routinized. The fast food industry employs a disproportionately large number of youth post-secondary students who work on a temporary basis and do so part-time or during school breaks to earn money toward educational and living expenses. To date, little is known about post-secondary student fast food workers’ perceptions of their employment. Data from interviews with 32 post-secondary student fast food workers were analyzed. The student workers viewed their jobs as unimportant and low-skilled; however, as students, they were not seeking work that provided opportunities for creativity and meaning, rather, they emphasized the temporary nature of their work and described the inherent stigma and lack of prestige associated with long-term employment in the fast food industry. The students were critical of longer-term workers and animosity between student and non-student workers was expressed. These findings suggest that identity management theories, such as Ashforth and Kreiner’s dirty work, may be better suited to understanding students’ participation in fast food work than traditional Marxist frameworks.

The prevalence of distress, depression, anxiety, and substance use issues among Indigenous post-secondary students in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-274
Author(s):  
Nolan K Hop Wo ◽  
Kelly K Anderson ◽  
Lloy Wylie ◽  
Arlene MacDougall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
College Health ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
National College Health Assessment ◽  
Post Secondary Students

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of mental illness and substance use among Indigenous students attending Canadian post-secondary institutions. We obtained data from the National College Health Assessment - American College Health Association Spring 2013 survey, which includes 34,039 participants in 32 post-secondary institutions across Canada. We calculated prevalence estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We compared Indigenous and non-Indigenous students using age- and sex-adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) obtained from Poisson regression models. Of the total sample, 1,110 (3.3%) post-secondary students self-identified as Indigenous. Within the past 12 months, Indigenous students had higher odds of intentionally injuring themselves (PR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.27–1.84), seriously considering suicide (PR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.12–1.56), attempting suicide (PR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.16–2.62), or having been diagnosed with depression (PR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.08–1.47) or anxiety (PR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.02–1.35) when compared with non-Indigenous students. Indigenous students also had higher odds of having a lifetime diagnosis of depression (PR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.17–1.47) when compared with non-Indigenous students. Indigenous students were more likely to report binging on alcohol (PR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02–1.19), using marijuana (PR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.06–1.37), and using other recreational drugs (PR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.06–1.63) compared to non-Indigenous students. This study demonstrates that Indigenous students at post-secondary institutions across Canada experience higher prevalence of mental health and related issues compared to the non-Indigenous student population. This information highlights the need to assess the utilization and ensure the appropriate provision of mental health and wellness resources to support Indigenous students attending post-secondary institutions.

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