Developing Tailored Messages to Improve Mental Health and Adjustment of Asian International Students

The purpose of the study was to develop tailored messages improving mental health and adjustment of Asian international students (AIS) in the US. The PEN-3 cultural model was used to contextualize the role of culture in mental health needs of AIS. Messages were developed through a multi-step participatory process with consisting of three focus groups (n=15), thirteen individual interviews, one expert consultation, and finally an online survey (n=85). The study led to the development of seven broad themes with seven tailored messages under each theme (total 49). Seven broad themes were: increasing the awareness of mental health and reducing stigma; motivational quotes; available and accessible resources for AIS to improve mental health; seeking help from social network and developing interpersonal skills; adjusting to American culture and college life; coping strategies to reduce stress and improve mental health and adjustment; and safety issues. The implications for culturally responsive programs are discussed.

Know Your Safe Drinking Skills: Adaptation Strategies for the College Effect

Objective: The current study investigates the effects of an alcohol-prevention program delivered to college students in a formal classroom setting. Participants: The sample comprised 231 first-year college students who enrolled in a multisection “First Year Experience” course at a large northeastern university in the United States. Method: A naturalistic experiment was conducted, with a baseline evaluation at the beginning of the semester and a post-experiment evaluation near the end of the semester. Results: Social drinking attitudes, proximal drinking norm and the college effect are significant predictors of pre- and post-intervention episodic drinking frequency. The intervention reduced episodic drinking frequency as well as perceived distal and proximal drinking norms. It also increased drinking attitudes and did not change perceived efficacy or drinking-outcome expectancies. Conclusions: Practitioners could consider implementing a similar intervention to allow students to learn and practice safe drinking skills in the first year of their college life.

Mentoring to Become a Self-Directed Learner

This chapter provides a mentoring roadmap for success in college life and when transitioning to the workplace. First-year students learn that a successful mentee is self-directed, knows what to look for in a mentor, uses skills to engage in effective mentoring, and recognizes there are various types of mentoring relationships. The authors describe what a first-year student should look for when seeking an effective mentor. Readers are shown the benefits for using a developmental mentoring network and for becoming self-directed learners and mentees. The chapter includes activities and exercises to develop critical skills in self-understanding, listening, help-seeking, problem solving, and goal setting to be applied in both academic and professional settings. When successful people receive an award or recognition, what they have in common is they did not make it alone – others guided and supported their learning, growth, and success.

“I Didn’t Think I’d Be Supported”: LGBTQ Students’ Non-Reporting of Bias Incidents at Southeastern Colleges and Universities

Colleges and universities are complex spaces of both LGBTQ+ liberation and oppression. College students experience LGBTQ+ bias-motivated incidents of harassment, assault, or other violence. Previous researchers have found that these incidents are severely under-reported, which may be related to a range of factors, including campus policies, campus climates, and administrator incompetence. These campus characteristics are upheld through systems of anti-LGBTQ+ surveillance and oppression, including compulsory heterogenderism, which normalize anti-LGBTQ+ violence. In this study, we used a survey of 143 LGBTQ+ college students in the Southeastern U.S. to examine their experiences of violence on campus. Using queer theory, we analyzed student responses about bias-motivated incidents and whether they chose to report the incidents to campus or legal authorities via convergent mixed methods. In this analysis, LGBTQ+ students' decisions to report a bias incident are moderated by considerations of the significance of the incidents, unclear and prohibitive reporting options, and the risks associated with reporting. Additionally, students regularly minimized the seriousness of violence against themselves even when describing incidents that commonly meet college and university definitions of harassment and/or assault. This study shows LGBTQ+ students' experiences of bias-motivated violence and (non)reporting are complex and affected by many facets of college life. Therefore, colleges and universities looking to address violence on campus need to improve not only policy but also communication and other efforts that demonstrate students experiencing violence will be heard, supported, and affirmed.