Social predictors of psychological well-being and symptoms of college students

Abstract

Objective Limited research exists on the simultaneous effects of family functioning, social competence, and social support on the well-being and depression, anxiety, and stress of college students and the power of these effects. We examined these predictors in two models to determine each variable’s impact on students’ mental health. Participants From October 2018 to November 2018, 726 students from 18 institutions of varying sizes across the United States participated in an online survey. Methods Stratified random sampling with institution size and setting as the strata; descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression to test study hypotheses. Results Variables predicted mental well-being and symptoms across both models, with social competence being the largest predictor, followed by perceived social support and family functioning. Conclusions Practitioners should consider the impact of social influences on student mental health and design interventions to strengthen social competence and support.