Start Of College Research Articles

Predictors of academic motivation in the first year of college

Using data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we analyzed whether certain precollege characteristics and experiences predicted students’ academic motivation when entering their first year of college. Results indicated that some precollege experiences positively predicted students’ academic motivation at the start of college, including certain minoritized identities, such as holding non-U.S. citizenship status, being a first-generation student, and being low-income; as well as higher measures of academic achievement and engagement, such as a higher high school GPA, a higher frequency of participation in high school extracurriculars, and a higher frequency of interacting with teachers. Conversely, higher ACT/SAT scores and higher reported frequency of socializing with friends negatively predicted students’ precollege levels of academic motivation. Implications for institutions of higher education, including faculty staff, as well as for high school guidance counselors, are considered.

Do Changes in Parent-Student Phone Call and Text Message Communication During the Transition to College Predict First-Year Drinking and Consequences? A Prospective Study.

We examined (a) whether changes in parent-student phone call and text messaging communication during the transition into college are associated with alcohol use and related consequences, and (b) whether pre-matriculation drinking patterns predicted these changes in parent-student communication. First-year students (n = 246; M age [SD] = 17.91 [0.39] years; 61.8% female) participated in a longitudinal survey study as a part of a larger study. Before matriculation (Time 0), participants reported their drinking and whether they experienced alcohol consequences in the past 30 days. Approximately 1 month into their first semester (Time 1), participants reported if the frequency of their calling and texting their parents had decreased, remained the same, or increased since the start of college. Drinking and consequences were then reassessed 4 months later (Time 2). Analytic models evaluated (a) whether a decrease in calling and texting parents, as reported by students (compared with an increase or no change), predicted drinking outcomes, and (b) whether pre-college drinking (compared with nondrinking) predicted changes in communication. Changes in phone calls and texting with mothers and fathers during the first month of college predicted alcohol use and consequences into the second semester. In addition, heavy drinking predicted lower odds of texting frequency with mothers staying the same or increasing. This study underscores that consistent call or text communication with students during their transition into college could serve as a protective factor against alcohol risk. By closely monitoring such communication, parents may be better equipped to identify potential signs of risky drinking behavior in their first-year students.

Selection and Socialization Effects of Living On vs. Off Campus

College students who live off campus vs. on campus substantially differ, which may be due to socialization or self-selection. We examined longitudinal differences in academics and activities, alcohol use and adjustment, and sexual behaviors between college students who remained on campus vs moved off campus (N = 607). Findings provide more support consistent with selection than with socialization effects. At the start of college, students who eventually moved off campus were less likely to work, drank alcohol more frequently, felt better about their self-image in social relationships, and recently had more kissing and penetrative sex partners than their peers who stayed on campus. When there was support for differences in change over time, it generally indicated that the two groups became more, not less, similar. In support of Developmental Systems Theory (Lerner & Walls, 1999), findings suggest students shape their own environments, and have implications for developing targeted prevention programming.

Does Alcohol Use in Large Group Contexts Mediate the Association Between Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies and Rape?

Women who hold positive beliefs about alcohol's role in sexual experiences may be more likely to drink alcohol in large group contexts such as bars and parties than other women. These contexts may confer risk for rape. In the current article, we examined the association between sex-related alcohol expectancies and rape during college, and whether drinking in large group contexts mediates this association. College women completed surveys for seven consecutive semesters. Contrary to previous cross-sectional research, women with more positive sex-related alcohol expectancies at the start of college and women who drank alcohol more frequently in large groups at the start of college were no more likely to experience rape during college. Longitudinal research is critical to identify risk factors that may be targeted for prevention.

Mentorship During College Transition Predicts Academic Self-Efficacy and Sense of Belonging Among STEM Students

Mentorship During College Transition Predicts Academic Self-Efficacy and Sense of Belonging Among STEM Students MaryBeth Apriceno (bio), Sheri R. Levy (bio), and Bonita London (bio) The demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates has increased significantly over the last decade. Because of the insufficient number of STEM graduates, this demand has not been met, resulting in a significant shortage of STEM workers in the US (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012). By 2025, the US is projected to have over 2 million unfilled STEM jobs. This shortage is even more pronounced among groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM, for example, women, African Americans, and Latinxs (National Science Foundation, 2018). Meanwhile, diversity in STEM companies has been shown to relate to greater company earnings, productivity, and perceptions of inclusive work culture (President's Council, 2012). It has become increasingly clear that a key contributor to this shortage is the difficulty in retaining college students in STEM majors. Chen (2013) reported that 48% of college students majoring in a STEM field switch to a non-STEM major or dropped out before completing their degrees. STEM majors have a higher attrition rate than non-STEM majors, and the attrition rate is even higher for underrepresented students in STEM programs (Wilson et al., 2012). The first year of college has been identified as a critical period when attrition in STEM typically occurs (Chen, 2013), highlighting the need to study this period to understand why. Indeed, the transition to college has generally been emphasized as a significant life phase in which goals and doubts are paramount and have great influence on how students [End Page 643] negotiate academic and personal stressors in the short term and long term (Ruble & Seidman, 1996). Analyzing data from the World Health Organization's World Mental Health International College Student Initiative, which included more than 14,000 students from 19 colleges, Auerbach and colleagues (2018) found that more than one third of firstyear college students reported symptoms of mental illness severe enough to meet diagnosis criteria as put forth by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, with the most common disorders reported being major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Meanwhile, researchers have estimated that only 15% of students seek counseling during their first year of college (Auerbach et al., 2018). During this educational transition, students are more likely to compare their performance to that of their peers, making them sensitive to perceived underperformance; underrepresented minorities pursuing STEM majors may be even more vulnerable (London, Rosenthal, Levy, & Lobel, 2011). Thus, attention to and appraisal of one's performance may be more likely to impact students' academic self-efficacy at this critical juncture. The transition to college also exposes first-year students to new environments, relationships, and academic challenges that influence their sense of belonging (Ahlqvist, London, & Rosenthal, 2013). Feelings of not fitting in (i.e., low sense of belonging) have been shown to predict disengagement, poor academic performance, and dropping out of school among first-year STEM students (Ahlqvist et al., 2013; London et al., 2011). It is timely and crucial to identify factors that can reduce attrition among STEM majors at the start of college. Findings from a small segment of the literature spotlight a possible key buffer against attrition: the availability and quality of mentors and mentoring relationships. Mentors are relevant adults who provide guidance and advice and serve as models for success in their field (Blake-Beard, Bayne, Crosby, & Muller, 2011). Previous research has shown that college students with mentors earn higher GPAs (Campbell & Campbell, 1997) and are less likely to drop out (Wilson et al., 2012) than students without mentors. Our prior work found that exposure to role models in STEM fields leads to greater interest in pursuing a STEM career (Rosenthal, Levy, London, Lobel, & Bazile, 2013). With higher rates of STEM attrition during the transition to college, when academic self-efficacy and sense of belonging are particularly vulnerable, early mentorship (i.e., at the start of the first year) may be the most effective strategy to retain students in STEM programs, particularly underrepresented minorities. Many mentoring relationships occur as a result of informal relationships that...

Mindfulness and emotion regulation: promoting well-being during the transition to college

ABSTRACTBackground and Objectives: Managing stress is very important for first-year college students adjusting to undergraduate life. Aspects of emotion regulation, including mindfulness and the ability to regulate distressing emotion adaptively, often correlate positively with well-being. However, little research has examined overlapping and/or distinct effects of these constructs in predicting changes in adjustment over a stressful transition. Thus, the present study examined the contributions of mindfulness and adaptive emotion regulation abilities in maintaining well-being during the transition to college. We further examined experience with mind–body practices, which may promote mindfulness and positive adjustment.Design: Online surveys were administered to 158 undergraduates near the beginning and end of their first semester.Methods: Near semester start and end, students reported levels of mindfulness, adaptive emotion regulation abilities, emotional and spiritual well-being, and experience with mind–body practices.Results: Compared to mindfulness, adaptive emotion regulation abilities largely demonstrated stronger cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with well-being. However, mindfulness uniquely protected against changes in depression for students with greater emotion regulation difficulties. Over half of participants reported having tried mind–body practices, but just 1% reported current use.Conclusions: Promoting mindfulness practices and adaptive emotion regulation abilities at the start of college may build resilience in undergraduate students.

Examining interactions between genetic risk for alcohol problems, peer deviance, and interpersonal traumatic events on trajectories of alcohol use disorder symptoms among African American college students.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that genetic and environmental factors interact to influence alcohol problems. Yet prior research has primarily focused on samples of European descent and little is known about gene-environment interactions in relation to alcohol problems in non-European populations. In this study, we examined whether and how genetic risk for alcohol problems and peer deviance and interpersonal traumatic events independently and interactively influence trajectories of alcohol use disorder symptoms in a sample of African American students across the college years (N = 1,119; Mage = 18.44 years). Data were drawn from the Spit for Science study where participants completed multiple online surveys throughout college and provided a saliva sample for genotyping. Multilevel growth curve analyses indicated that alcohol dependence genome-wide polygenic risk scores did not predict trajectory of alcohol use disorder symptoms, while family history of alcohol problems was associated with alcohol use disorder symptoms at the start of college but not with the rate of change in symptoms over time. Peer deviance and interpersonal traumatic events were associated with more alcohol use disorder symptoms across college years. Neither alcohol dependence genome-wide polygenic risk scores nor family history of alcohol problems moderated the effects of these environmental risk factors on alcohol use disorder symptoms. Our findings indicated that peer deviance and experience of interpersonal traumatic events are salient risk factors that elevate risk for alcohol problems among African American college students. Family history of alcohol problems could be a useful indicator of genetic risk for alcohol problems. Gene identification efforts with much larger samples of African descent are needed to better characterize genetic risk for alcohol use disorders, in order to better understand gene-environment interaction processes in this understudied population.

Stress and psychological constructs related to eating behavior are associated with anthropometry and body composition in young adults

BackgroundThe transition to college is associated with weight gain, but the relation between eating behavior indicators and anthropometric outcomes during this period remains unclear. ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate sex differences in stress, emotional eating, tendency to overeat, and restrained eating behavior, and determine whether the psycho-behavioral constructs assessed immediately prior to starting college are associated with anthropometry and adiposity at the start of college, and with first-semester weight gain. MethodsA prospective study administered the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), Satter Eating Competence Inventory, and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to 264 participants one month before college. Body composition was assessed via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at the start of college, and anthropometry (weight, height, waist circumference [WC]) was collected at the beginning and end of the first semester. Ordinary least squares regression tested the cross-sectional association of baseline psychological and behavioral scales with baseline DXA and anthropometry, and the longitudinal association with change in anthropometry. ResultsAmong 264 participants, 91% (241) had baseline data, and 66% (173) completed follow-up. In sex-adjusted linear regression models, baseline TFEQ disinhibited and emotional (DE; EE) eating sub-scales were positively associated with baseline weight (P = 0.003; DE, P = 0.014; EE), body mass index (BMI, P = 0.002; DE, P = 0.001; EE), WC (P = 0.004; DE, P = 0.006; EE) and DXA fat mass index (P = 0.023; DE, P = 0.014; EE). Baseline PSS was positively associated with subsequent changes in weight and WC among males only (Pinteraction = 0.0268 and 0.0017 for weight and WC, respectively). ConclusionCollege freshmen with questionnaire scores indicating a greater tendency to overeat in response to external cues and emotions tended to have greater weight, BMI, and WC at the start of college. Males with higher perceived stress at college entrance subsequently gained significantly more weight in the first semester, but no such relation was evident in females.

The Differential Influence of Drinking, Sensation Seeking, and Impulsivity on the Perpetration of Unwanted Sexual Advances and Sexual Coercion.

There are startling rates of sexual coercion across college campuses, underscoring the importance of identifying risk factors and intervening early to prevent perpetration of these unwanted sexual events. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of impulsivity, sensation seeking, and alcohol use on the odds of perpetrating unwanted sexual advances (i.e., forced fondling, kissing, or petting) and sexual coercion (i.e., sexual intercourse through arguments, pressure, or physical force) during the subsequent 6 years. Male participants (N = 901) were part of a 6-year longitudinal study, which explored alcohol use and associated behavioral risks throughout emerging adulthood. Participants provided self-reported surveys across 6 years, starting the summer before their start of college. Using logistic regression models, these analyses examined the main effects and interactions of impulsivity, sensation seeking, and alcohol use, measured during the summer before the start of college, on the odds of perpetrating one or multiple instances of unwanted sexual advances and sexual coercion across the subsequent 6 years. Results indicated that higher levels of sensation seeking and heavier drinking on drinking days during high school contributed to greater odds of being a one-time perpetrator of unwanted sexual advances during the next 6 years. Conversely, impulsivity, but not alcohol use, was associated with greater risk of perpetrating multiple instances of both unwanted sexual advances and sexual coercion. Alcohol use did not significantly moderate the influence of personality on perpetration. These results underscore the importance of early intervention and using impulsivity and sensation seeking to tailor current prevention efforts to decrease the likelihood of sexual coercion perpetration during college.

Substance Use Trajectories From Early Adolescence Through the Transition to College.

The transition to college is an important developmental period for the development of alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug (cocaine, opiates, inhalants, stimulants, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, club drugs) use. The current study explored specific changes in substance use patterns during and after the transition to college through the use of trajectory analyses. Participants were 526 students who reported retrospectively and prospectively on their substance use from age 13 through the junior year of college. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to estimate developmental trajectory groups for alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use during this period. Results supported a five-group model of alcohol use, a four-group model of marijuana use, and a four-group model of hard drug use. Although three of the five alcohol trajectories indicated high escalation throughout adolescence, one of these groups decreased in alcohol use dramatically during the freshman and sophomore years, a trend also found for hard drug use. Trajectories demonstrated significant differences in terms of gender, race, and impulsive personality characteristics. These results indicate that the start of college is an important developmental transition in terms of polysubstance use, and that despite the homogeneity of this undergraduate sample, there is considerable divergence in trajectories during college.

Predicting Change in Physical Activity: a Longitudinal Investigation Among Weight-Concerned College Women.

Engaging in regular physical activity (PA) is critical for health, and adopting a consistent PA routine early in life is associated with greater PA over the lifespan. College women with weight concerns are at risk for weight gain, which may be prevented with regular PA. However, little is known about changes in PA engagement in this at-risk group. Using an outcome expectancy framework, this study used a prospective longitudinal design to examine changes in PA during the first 2years of college. We tested for concurrent and prospective within-person relations between body satisfaction/perceived eating behavior and PA to determine when weight-concerned college women may increase or decrease PA. Women who reported weight concerns at the start of college (n = 294) completed five assessments over 2years, including measured weight, body/eating experiences, and 4days of pedometer steps (per assessment). Multilevel models addressed the resulting nested data structure (days within assessments within participants). Over 2years, within-person change accounted for 65% of PA variability (ICC = 0.35). PA was greatest at (and subsequent to) times when body satisfaction was lower, and when disinhibited eating and hedonic hunger were higher, than an individual's average (ps < 0.05). These changes were associated with 1-3% of the recommended daily step totals. Weight-conscious college women show greater PA after negative eating and weight experiences. As these experiences change over time, health promotion efforts should help college women identify alternative, positive motivators for PA, which could facilitate consistent PA engagement.

Trouble Brewing: Pregaming Among High School and Incoming College Students

Pregaming (a.k.a., "prepartying," "pre-funking," or "predrinking") consists of drinking before going to a social function or gathering where alcohol may or may not be served. Existing research suggests that pregaming in high school and pre-college (i.e., the period between high school graduation and the start of college) is widespread. Moreover, pregaming prevalence appears to rapidly increase after students graduate from high school and transition into college. Thus, the purpose of this brief review is threefold: (a) to summarize the existing (albeit limited) research on pregaming among high school students and incoming college freshmen, (b) to present an overview of the risk factors that have been identified for participation in pregaming, and (c) to discuss the implications for practice that may be particularly relevant for school-employed/affiliated nurses as well as health practitioners who work in college settings.

Diving (Back) into the Wreck: Finding, Transforming, and Reimagining Women's Studies and Sexuality Studies in the Academy

Diving (Back) intothe Wreck: Finding,Transforming, and Reimagining Women'sStudies and Sexuality Studies in theAcademy Breanne Fahs We are, I am, you are / by cowardice or courage / the one who finds our way / back to this scene / carrying a knife, a camera / a book of myths I in which / our names do not appear. —Adrienne Rich, "Diving into the Wreck"1 As a sexuality researcher who has traveled with a formal, institu tional "women's studies" label since the start of college—first as an undergraduate at Occidental College's women's studies/gender stud ies department (1997-2001), then as a graduate student in women's studies at the University of Michigan (2001-2006), and now as a ten ured professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State Uni versity (2006-present)—my formal ties to academic feminism owe much to the work of those who blazed that path for me. Scholars of my generation—those who have always seen women's studies in the academy as possible and available—often forget the hard-won bat tles, challenges, and struggles that gave birth to women's studies as a field of study. As we now embark on the challenge to decide where women's studies and sexuality studies should reside within the acad emy— as separate fields, as joint programs, or as fields tied with ethnic studies and American studies—the privileges and dangers of this conversation deserve assessment. feministStudies39, no. 2. © 2013 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 496 Forum:W/G/SStudies 497 While interviewing radical feminist Ti-Grace Atkinson several years ago, she advised caution about a formalized association between women's studies and sexuality studies.2 She warned, aptly, that fusing women's studies and sexuality studies too closely could lead to the implicit pairing of women and their bodies (and men and their minds) that feminists had long fought to negate. We had been discussing some shifts at the university—the move from women's studies to gender studies and conversations about further collapsing women's studies into "something else"—and she expressed concern that, even though the political alliances between women, gender, and sexuality studies remained strong, the linguistic connection between the three would create political assumptions about women and bodies that could be difficult to shake. This advice hit particularly hard for me as a sexuality scholar in women's studies, as my entire career has inces santly fused sexuality, embodiment, radical feminism, and women's studies together. The road to renaming, reclassifying, and regrouping women's studies and its allies is fraught with messiness, intellectual and ide ological struggle, personal passions, and hard-earned political strat egizing. With so many having a stake in this process, the priorities of administrators (concerned with cost-cutting, student retention, and numbers), chairs and directors (fighting to keep women's studies and its goals alive), faculty (struggling with pedagogical and political ten sions, particularly about intersectionality, not to mention keeping their jobs), and students (wanting a recognizable, "legitimate," and provocative course of study) too often stand at odds.3 In my experi ence, at least four key areas in this debate provoke the most discus sion, each of which I outline briefly here: (1) the politics of naming; (2) the intellectual risks and benefits of "ghetto" studies; (3) shifting def initions of "social justice" as an umbrella term; and (4) the continu ing risks of institutionalizing radical, activist, or politically significant social movements. Every college and university I have joined has had numerous discussions about name changes in women's studies. At Occidental College, a decision was made to link both women's studies and gender studies, while the University of Michigan (after a heated multi-month debate among faculty and graduate students in 2004) decided to retain the name "women's studies." Arizona State University's Tempe 498 Forum:WIGIS Studies campus recently transitioned their women's studies program into the School of Social Transformation, while West campus (my current home) has embarked on a series of conversations about eliminating both women and gender studies and ethnic studies in favor of a larger social justice program, mostly in the name of "saving" the program from...

Major Concerns? A Longitudinal Analysis of Student- Athletes’ Academic Majors in Comparative Perspective

This paper investigates the over-representation of student-athletes in academic majors, a pattern known as clustering. Three issues are examined. The first is whether clustering occurs at college entrance or later. The second is whether some athletes are at extra risk of clustering. The third is whether clustering contributes to future income inequalities. Analyses of a major university’s student records revealed that athletes clustered at the start of college but the tendency to do so was moderated by race, sex, and type of sport played. Clustering also intensified greatly over time, particularly for African American athletes. By the eighth semester, 64% of African American athletes were social science majors. In the short-term, clustering lowered athletes’ projected incomes, but long-term income projections based on academic major slightly favored groups of athletes who clustered within the social sciences.

Longitudinal validation of the acquired preparedness model of drinking risk.

This paper reports on the first longitudinal test of the Acquired Preparedness (AP) model of alcoholism risk, which holds that individual differences in key personality traits influence drinking behavior by influencing alcohol-related learning (Smith and Anderson, 2001). We studied 418 individuals making the transition to the independence of college across 3 longitudinal waves. Each of 2 longitudinal models predicting typical drinking quantity provided support for the AP process. In the first, drinking quantity at the end of the first year of college was predicted by positive urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing extremely positive affect) at the start of college, and that predictive relationship appeared to have been mediated by expectancies that alcohol provides positive, arousing effects. In the second, drinking quantity was predicted by negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing extremely negative affect) at the start of college, and that relationship appeared to have been mediated by the motive to drink alcohol to cope with subjective distress.

A prospective study of weight gain during the college freshman and sophomore years

Objective To assess the prevalence of weight gain among male and female college freshmen. Methods Study 1 examined weight change over freshman and sophomore years among 904 students attending a state university in Indiana, from 2002–2004. Study 2 examined weight and BMI change over the freshman year among 382 students attending a private university in Rhode Island, from 2004–2006. Results 77% of Study 1 participants and 70% of Study 2 participants gained weight during their freshman year, largely during the first semester. In Study 1, weight gain averaged 3.5 kg in females and males; in Study 2, weight gain averaged 1.6 kg for females and 2.5 kg for males. Students continued to gain weight their sophomore year, with females 4.2 kg and males 4.3 kg heavier than at start of college. Overweight/obesity rates increased from baseline to end of freshman year for Study 1 (21.6% to 36%) and Study 2 participants (14.7% to 17.8%). Conclusion The first years of college may be a critical developmental window for establishing weight gain prevention efforts.