Examining recovery experiences among working college students: A person-centered study

Abstract

Recovery experiences are seen as key correlates of employee well-being at work. Yet, there is a dearth of research on the recovery experiences of working college students, despite the fact that these employees comprise a large and potentially at-risk percentage of the workforce. Building from recent profile analytic work on recovery experiences conducted with full-time employees (e.g., Bennett, Gabriel, Calderwood, Dahling, & Trougakos, 2016), we similarly take a person-centered, holistic view to understand profiles of recovery experiences amongst working college students. In Study 1 (N = 520), we establish whether profiles of recovery experiences exist in working college students. In an effort to replicate findings from Bennett et al. (2016), we also consider whether job demands (e.g., role ambiguity, time pressure) and job resources (e.g., job control) help in differentiating profile membership, and whether profile membership relates to working college student well-being (e.g., work exhaustion, work engagement, somatic complaints) and turnover intentions. In Study 2 (N = 536), we aim to further extend the findings of Study 1 by considering additional antecedents unique to the experiences of working college students (e.g., work hours, organizational identification, school hassles, school flexibility), as well as an expanded set of outcomes that consider effects at school and at the work-school interface (e.g., school engagement, school exhaustion, work-to-school conflict). Combined, our results yield significant theoretical implications relevant to the generalizability of models of recovery across occupational contexts, as well as substantial practical implications for the maintenance of well-being and occupational health in working student populations.