Typical College Student Research Articles

The effect of diagnostic labels on the affective responses of college students towards peers with 'Asperger's Syndrome' and 'Autism Spectrum Disorder'.

Given the removal of Asperger's Syndrome label in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition, the impact of clinical labels upon the affective responses of college students was explored. A total of 120 college students read two vignettes depicting social interactions typical of a person with autism spectrum disorder. In one vignette, they were informed that the character was a typical college student and in the other, the character had a clinical disorder (either autism spectrum disorder, Asperger's Syndrome or Schizophrenia). Participants' affective responses were measured on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale. No significant differences in positive and negative affective responses were found between the clinical labels. However, affective responses were significantly more positive and less negative towards behaviours associated with clinical groups compared to the typical college student. The implications for students disclosing their diagnosis at university are discussed.

A Collaborative Disability Studies-based Undergraduate Art Project at Two Universities

In this manuscript, we discuss research findings from a collaborative visual arts curricular unit on ableism, which we implemented in non-Disability Studies undergraduate courses at two universities during the 2012-2013 academic year. Our project builds on previous research in which we (Derby, 2015, in press; Karr & Weida, 2013) began adding Disability Studies arts pedagogy to our undergraduate coursework. For this project, we developed a shared unit, which we implemented in a general freshman seminar course, an introductory art teaching methods course, and an upper level art education course on applied technology. Utilizing a pedagogy of transformation, we engaged students with shared resources, including lectures, readings, and videos on Disability Studies and ableism; the project culminated with each student producing and exhibiting both an artwork and an artist's statement. After reviewing the literature and describing the project and research methods, we provide a nuanced discussion of the data, especially the artwork. The data indicate that our students, who were previously unexposed to ableism, conceptualized ableism at least on an elementary level, with many students demonstrating advanced conceptualization of ableism in one or more of three categories. Our findings suggest that integrating Disability Studies into non-Disability Studies curricula on a small scale can be useful, but that results are limited by the complexities of disability. The success of the project indicates that incorporating Disability Studies into standard curricula through a pedagogy of transformation can reach typical college students who are unfamiliar with Disability Studies concepts.

Considerations of positive body image across various social identities and special populations

Although the study of body image has been dominated by a focus on negative aspects, recent research interest has turned towards positive body image. The purpose of the present paper is to provide an integrative review of empirical research on the positive body image of individuals across a range of social identities beyond the typical college student. In particular, the review focuses on research exploring age, culture, gender, and special populations. Overall, the review finds that positive body image seems to confer benefit and operate similarly across a range of populations, although it may be expressed uniquely in different contexts. These results contribute to a more complete account of positive body image, but also raise a number of important additional questions and challenges for future research.

Intentions of College Students to Serve as Informal Caregivers for Their Older Relatives: Theory of Planned Behavior Approach

As the older adult population increases, the healthcare system is experiencing a shortage of professional health care providers and caregivers. Consequently, the role of family to serve as caregivers will expand to care for older relatives at home. Thus, a larger proportion of adult children will become caregivers, including young adults enrolled as college students. Therefore, a need exists to examine the intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms of typical college students to assume the role of informal caregivers. The present study is based on the theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The TPB assumes attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control influence intentions which provide the best predictors of actual behavior. The cross-sectional study included an attitude scale, additional scales based on TPB, and a demographic profile. Data were collected from 750 currently enrolled university students then analyzed for descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchal multiple regression statistics. The students' quality of experiences and interaction with older relatives correlated significantly with intentions, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control to serve as informal caregivers. Our study shows that, in the present context, TPB offers a viable explanation of students' intentions to serve as informal caregivers. Implications of the study suggest health care providers, geriatricians, health educators, and patient educators should become involved in the education and strategy development necessary to assist this young group of informal caregivers.

Waking Up in Prison: Critical Discussions Between Typical College Students and Their Incarcerated Peers

This article describes a typical college course that was taught in a youth correctional facility. The course combined traditional college students and inmates from the prison. Over the course of 15 weeks both groups grew to understand one another and themselves. The article seeks to illustrate the realities related both to fear and success in such an undertaking. This collaborative model between colleges and correctional facilities has promise as a model for prison education.

College students' perceptions of peers with autism spectrum disorder.

Little is known about peer attitudes toward college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Affective, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward vignette characters displaying behaviors characteristic of ASD were examined among 224 four-year university students who were randomly assigned to one of three labeling conditions for the primary vignette characters: high functioning autism (HFA), typical college student, or no label. Students in the HFA label condition reported more positive behavioral and cognitive attitudes toward the vignette characters than students in the no label condition. Male students and students with lower scores on the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire reported more positive attitudes across study conditions. These experimental results suggest that knowledge of a diagnosis might improve attitudes toward college students with ASD.

Private room as a test accommodation

The effects of a private vs. group test setting were examined on a reading comprehension test for a sample of typical college students. Participants took Forms G and H of the Nelson Denny Reading Comprehension Test in both private and group (classroom) settings. Contrary to expectations, performance was slightly better in the group setting. Performance was also better during the second session, regardless of setting. There was no setting by session interaction. The correlation between scores in the two settings was quite high, indicating that both settings produced similar results. The findings suggest that a private room does not produce a performance advantage for typical students, thus meeting one of the criteria of a valid test accommodation.

Associations of descriptive and reflective injunctive norms with risky college drinking.

The current study describes the relative predictive power of descriptive norms (i.e., how much the target student believes referents "drink until they get drunk") and reflective injunctive norms (i.e., target student's perception of referents' approval of the target student drinking until drunk) across various reference groups. The aim of this study was to gain further insight into which types of norms and reference groups are most highly concurrently correlated with risky drinking. It was hypothesized that both reflective injunctive and descriptive norms would be significantly positively correlated with risky drinking outcomes, and that more proximal reference group norms would be more highly predictive than more distal reference group norms. Participants (N = 837) were college students on the U.S. west coast who completed questionnaires in the context of a longitudinal parent study. Cross-sectional, zero-inflated negative binomial regressions were used to test the relative strengths of correlations between descriptive and reflective injunctive norms (i.e., for typical college students, closest friend, person whose opinion they value most, and closest family member) and risky drinking (i.e., peak alcohol quantity, frequency of heavy drinking episodes, and alcohol-related problems). Findings showed that descriptive and reflective injunctive norms were most consistently, strongly and positively correlated with risky drinking when they involved referents who were closer to the target college drinkers (i.e., closest friend and person whose opinion you value the most). Norms for typical college students were less consistent correlates of risky drinking. These findings may contribute to the knowledge base for enhancing normative reeducation and personalized normative feedback interventions to include more personally salient and powerful normative information.

Audio-Visual Entrainment: A Novel Way of Boosting Grades and Socialization While Reducing Stress in the Typical College Student

Attention, concentration, memory, grade-point average, and stress/worry are all primary concerns of the modern university and college student. Also, young adults are concerned about having a somewhat active social life in between exams, essays, and deadlines. The stress of school shunts cerebral blood flow away from the cortex (during stress the brain assumes the body needs blood in the core to prepare for flight or battle, which is just the opposite of what the present day student needs). This slows dominant cortical activity down into greater alpha and theta brain wave frequencies, similar to what is seen in those with ADD and ADHD, leaving the student more distractible, impulsive, and hyperactive. This behavior in turn impairs the student's ability to study and write exams, thus increasing stress, and using valuable social time needed to shake off stress and the potential of falling into depression. Audio-visual entrainment (AVE) has been shown to produce dramatic increases in cerebral blood flow, efficient brain activity, and sound mental health. Several studies involving the use of AVE for enhancing academic performance have been completed. AVE has proven to be an effective and affordable aid to better grades and improve socialization.

Ethnicity specific norms and alcohol consumption among Hispanic/Latino/a and Caucasian students

Previous research has shown that social norms are among the strongest predictors of college student drinking and that normative misperceptions of more similar groups' drinking behavior may be more influential on individual drinking than those groups perceived to be more different. However, limited research has explored the moderating role of ethnicity in this context. The current study examined the differential impact that Hispanic/Latino/a and Caucasian students' normative perceptions of both typical and same-ethnicity college students' drinking behavior had on their own drinking. Participants (N=5,369 students; 60.4% female; 81.4% Caucasian; mean age 19.9years) from two colleges completed web-based surveys assessing their alcohol consumption, and their perceptions of the drinking behaviors of both the typical college student and the typical same race/ethnicity college student at their campus. Results demonstrated that perceived norms were significantly associated with likelihood of drinking regardless of race or ethnicity specificity, but that Hispanics/Latinos/as typically had weaker relationships between ethnicity-specific norms and drinking than general student norms and drinking. The opposite was true for Caucasians such that the relationship between same-race norms and drinking was stronger than the relationship between general student norms and drinking. Further, Hispanic/Latino/a students with high perceived norms were less likely to have consumed any alcohol than Caucasians with similar normative beliefs. Further, a campus site interaction suggests that the size of the minority population on campus relative to other students may influence the relationship between norms and drinking. Implications and targets for future investigation are discussed.

Spaced Out [Women to Watch

Hallie Gengl is not your typical college student. Yes, she might go to parties, hang out with her friends, or even cram the night before for an exam. But her accomplishments are what set her apart. Gengl, who is finishing up her sophomore year as a double major in earth and space exploration and meteorology/ climatology at Arizona State University in Tempe, is cofounder and vice president of Arizona State University???s (ASU) chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-ASU), a nonprofit organization formed in January 2010 that encourages students to get involved in space exploration beyond regular classroom learning.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Injunctive Norms on Marijuana Use: The Role of Reference Groups

Little work has evaluated the relationship between injunctive norms and marijuana use. This study sought to establish whether misperceptions exist between perceived injunctive norms of typical college students and the actual approval level of the students. We also examined respondents' perceptions of which groups (typical student, close friends, and parents) were the most and least approving of marijuana. These variables were then applied to an explanatory model to assess their relationships with marijuana use. Participants were 3,753 students (61% female) randomly recruited from two West Coast campuses. Participants were asked about their own marijuana use and their own approval toward marijuana. Injunctive norms were assessed by asking respondents about their perceptions of how much other reference groups approved of marijuana. Students overestimated the extent to which the typical student approves of marijuana use. A path model showed that perceived approval of both close friends and parents predicted actual/self-approval, which in turn was most predictive of personal marijuana use. Perceptions of typical-student and close friends' approval also directly predicted one's own use, whereas the path from parental approval to marijuana use was fully mediated by one's own approval. Findings suggest that perceived injunctive norms may function differently with respect to marijuana use than they do with respect to alcohol use and raise questions about how to incorporate social-normative information into marijuana interventions.

The social norms of alcohol-related negative consequences.

Social norms for alcohol use are important influences on individual college student drinking. The present study extends social norms research by examining alcohol-related consequences and, in particular, whether similar misperceptions exist regarding the frequency and evaluation of these consequences over time. College student drinkers (N = 624) participating in a longitudinal study completed Web-based surveys assessing alcohol use and related consequences, as well as their beliefs about frequency and evaluation of consequences for the typical college student. Findings suggest that students overestimated how often typical college students experience negative consequences and underestimated how negatively other students evaluated those consequences. Finally, results support a bidirectional model for alcohol-related consequences, possibly indicating a reciprocal, mutually influential feed-forward loop of norms and consequences that promotes maintenance of college student drinking and consequences.

Survey of College Students' MP3 Listening: Habits, Safety Issues, Attitudes, and Education

To survey listening habits and attitudes of typical college students who use MP3 players and to investigate possible safety issues related to MP3 player listening. College students who were frequent MP3 player users (N = 428) filled out a 30-item online survey. Specific areas probed by the present survey included frequency and duration of MP3 player use, MP3 player volume levels used, types of earphones used, typical environments in which MP3 player was worn, specific activities related to safety while listening to MP3 players, and attitudes toward MP3 player use. The majority of listeners wore MP3 players for less than 2 hr daily at safe volume levels. About one third of respondents reported being distracted while wearing an MP3 player, and more than one third of listeners experienced soreness in their ears after a listening session. About one third of respondents reported occasionally using their MP3 players at maximum volume levels. Listeners indicated willingness to (a) reduce volume levels, (b) decrease listening duration, and (c) buy specialized earphones to conserve their hearing. The study found concerns regarding the occasional use of MP3 players at full volume and reduced environmental awareness among some college student users.

The Early Bird Does Not Get the Worm: Time-of-Day Effects on College Students’ Basic Cognitive Processing

We conducted a neuropsychological and cognitive assessment study to determine whether time of day affects cognitive performance. We measured executive control (fluency), processing speed, semantic memory, and episodic memory performance. We followed 56 students across 3 different times of day, testing performance on vocabulary, fluency, processing speed, and episodic memory. Results showed an advantage for fluency and digit symbol task performance in the afternoon and evening testing times relative to morning testing (regardless of testing order), but that time of day did not affect semantic or episodic memory performance. These results suggest that optimal executive functioning and processing speed may occur for typical college students in the afternoon and evening regardless of time-of-day preference.

Transitional Services for Youth With Developmental Disabilities

This study evaluates the impact of a college-based dormitory program on transitioning youth with intellectual disabilities. A qualitative study, with interviews at pre and post, was conducted to evaluate the program's impact. Data were collected with semistructured interviews from young adults with intellectual disabilities who participated in a college-based residential program and their parents or guardians. Three general themes emerged from the data: Participants reported experiences that were (a) typical of normative life transitions, (b) typical of growing pains associated with significant life transitions and learning new skills, and (c) one step forward. Results indicate that the experience of living away from home for the first time was in some ways comparable to that of a typical college student. Improvement in life skills, including increased awareness of personal goals, enhanced vocational goals, increased maturity or assertiveness, was reported. Respondents were generally satisfied with the program.

What’s in a Name? Two Approaches to Evaluating the Label Feminist

Across two studies, we employed unique approaches to investigating the meaning of the label feminist using a sample of undergraduates from a large Northeastern university in the U.S. In Study 1 (N = 60), we utilized an impression formation paradigm to investigate the meaning of the label feminist when applied to typical college student. The results revealed that feminist males were rated less favorably than nonfeminist males and feminist females were rated more favorably than nonfeminist females. In Study 2 (N = 112), we examined the context-free associations that people have with the label feminist using two implicit attitude measures. Females reported positive implicit associations with the label feminist while males expressed neutral to slightly negative implicit associations with feminists.

Attitudes and Perceived Approval of Drinking as Mediators of the Relationship Between the Importance of Religion and Alcohol Use

Previous research has consistently demonstrated that religiosity and personal importance of religion are associated with lower levels of alcohol use among both adolescents and college students. Although a number of different mechanisms have been proposed to account for this, few studies have empirically examined potential mediators of this relationship. Given the extensive literature on the impact of social norms on the drinking behavior of college students, the present study evaluates the role of perceived drinking norms as a mediator of the relationship between the importance of religion and alcohol use. Specifically, we examined both personal attitudes and perceived injunctive norms with regard to reference groups that vary in their proximity to students (i.e., close friends and typical college students). Participants were 1,400 undergraduate students (60.6% women) who were assessed using self-report measures of alcohol consumption, importance of religion, attitudes, and perceived norms. Results indicated that, consistent with the hypotheses, personal attitudes were the strongest mediator of the relationship between importance of religion and alcohol use, followed by the approval of close friends, and, to a lesser extent, the approval of typical college students. These findings suggest that importance of religion may have an indirect effect on alcohol use via personal attitudes and the perceived approval or disapproval of important others, and this relationship varies as a function of reference group. Implications for interventions that incorporate information on social norms are discussed.

Changes over Four Years in Body Composition and Oxygen Uptake of Young Adult Males after University Graduation

Lifestyle changes and challenges following university graduation often present a sharp contrast to the relatively free and basically pleasant university life enjoyed by the typical college student. Adaptation to a new work environment, relocation to a new community, concerns of marriage and family, personal finances, including income and budgeting (automobile and mortgage payments, savings, etc.), and adjustment to independent living result in an unfamiliar schedule of duties, often too sedentary in nature. The aim of this study was to analyse the changes observed in young working professionals by comparing selected body composition estimates, and physiological working capacity variables at the time of university graduation and four years later. Anthropometric and functional cardio-respiratory exercise test data were collected in 26 physically active (but non-athletic) volunteer males at the time of their university graduation in 2000 and 4 years later in 2004. By the end of this four-year period body weight, body mass index (BMI), the sum of 5 skinfold thicknesses, and relative body fat content increased significantly. Both mean BMI and weight-related body fat content were within the categorized risk range at the time of the second data collection. Parallel with unfavourable changes in body composition, peak minute ventilation, aerobic power, oxygen pulse, and maximum treadmill running distance had decreased significantly during this time. We attributed the significant changes observed mainly to the dramatically changed lifestyle. The subjects could not maintain their previous level of habitual physical activity.

Who is the typical college student? Implications for personalized normative feedback interventions

Personalized normative feedback approaches focus on correcting overestimated peer drinking norms in order to reduce problematic drinking among college students. Generally, personalized normative feedback utilizes the “typical college student” as a normative referent. Prior research has found these interventions to be less effective for women and has suggested the implementation of the typical student referent as one possible explanation. The current research explored how the typical college student is perceived when estimating peer drinking norms. Participants included 182 (98 women, 84 men) students who reported consuming 5/4 or more drinks for men/women on at least one occasion in the previous month. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires on computers located in small private rooms assessing their drinking behavior, perceptions of “typical student” drinking behavior, and demographics of the perceived “typical college student.” Overall, the majority of students perceived the typical student to be male. More specifically, the vast majority of men and about half of women perceived the typical student as male when estimating drinking norms. These findings provide empirical corroboration for previous researchers' suggestions that both men and women tend to think of the typical college student as male when estimating peer drinking norms. Results are discussed in terms of implications for personalized normative feedback interventions.