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The effectiveness of the Global Wellness scale of the Lifestyle Practices and Health Consciousness Inventory, measuring combined mental and physical health, is well documented in the literature among samples of primarily White clients. However, the global wellness literature is lacking research among ethnic minority populations who tend to face healthcare inequities. For example, Black and Latinx adults in the United States face inequities in the quality and accessibility of mental and physical healthcare services, including unique risks for anxiety and depression. In this study, a national random sample (N = 4,009) was recruited (stratified by age, gender, and geographic region of the United States) of Latinx and Black adults to examine the association of anxiety severity and depression severity with global wellness as well as demographic differences in global wellness. Anxiety and depression emerged as significant negative predictors of global wellness, and results revealed a number of demographic differences in global wellness. Implications for counseling practice and how mental health counselors can reduce healthcare disparities are discussed.

Conducting and publishing rigorous empirical research based on original data is essential for advancing and sustaining high-quality counseling practice. The purpose of this article is to provide a one-stop-shop for writing a rigorous quantitative Methods section in counseling and related fields. The importance of judiciously planning, implementing, and writing quantitative research methods cannot be understated, as methodological flaws can completely undermine the integrity of the results. This article includes an overview, considerations, guidelines, best practices, and recommendations for conducting and writing quantitative research designs. The author concludes with an exemplar Methods section to provide a sample of one way to apply the guidelines for writing or evaluating quantitative research methods that are detailed in this manuscript.

Meeting the mental health needs of students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors is particularly challenging for professional counselors who work in college settings, as STEM students are a subgroup of college students that face unique risks for developing mental health issues. The scarcity of literature on STEM student mental health coupled with their reticence to seek counseling is concerning. An important next step in this line of research is understanding why STEM students are reticent to seek counseling. Accordingly, the present investigators validated STEM students’ scores on the Revised Fit, Stigma, and Value (RFSV) Scale, a screening tool for measuring barriers to seeking counseling. Results also established the capacity of STEM students’ RFSV scores to predict peer-to-peer referrals to the counseling center and revealed demographic differences in barriers to counseling. Findings have implications for enhancing professional counselors’ efforts to support STEM students’ mental health.

The author tested the psychometric properties of the Lifestyle Practices and Health Consciousness Inventory (LPHCI), an interdisciplinary healthcare screening tool, with a stratified random sample (N = 4,009) of Black and Latinx adults in all 50 states. Results of EFA, CFA, higher-order CFA, and multiple-group CFA all supported a 3-dimensional LPHCI model.

Assessment literacy is an essential competency area for professional counselors who administer tests and interpret the results of participants’ scores. Using factor analysis to demonstrate internal structure validity of test scores is a key element of assessment literacy. The underuse of psychometrically sound instrumentation in professional counseling is alarming, as a careful review and critique of the internal structure of test scores is vital for ensuring the integrity of clients’ results. A professional counselor’s utilization of instrumentation without evidence of the internal structure validity of scores can have a number of negative consequences for their clients, including misdiagnoses and inappropriate treatment planning. The extant literature includes a series of articles on the major types and extensions of factor analysis, including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), higher-order CFA, and multiple-group CFA. However, reading multiple psychometric articles can be overwhelming for professional counselors who are looking for comparative guidelines to evaluate the validity evidence of scores on instruments before administering them to clients. This article provides an overview for the layperson of the major types and extensions of factor analysis and can serve as reference for professional counselors who work in clinical, research, and educational settings.

Reliability evidence of test scores is essential in counseling research and program evaluation, as the quality of client care is, in part, based on the proper interpretation of test scores. Cronbac...

Schools implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) with fidelity demonstrate a wealth of student and school benefits. At the same time, there exists limited research from an inclusive innovation perspective: examining whether schools and communities have equitable access to PBIS based on sociodemographic school and community variables. This article presents the results of an ex post facto research design examining PBIS implementation and access across sociodemographic school and community variables from an inclusive innovation lens, examining data from schools ( N = 489) in the state of Georgia. The significant interaction effects revealed that between both PBIS and non-PBIS schools, those located in suburban areas had significantly higher median household incomes compared with rural and urban schools. Additional findings included the following: PBIS rural schools had higher household incomes and lower percentages of free/reduced-price lunch than non-PBIS schools in rural communities, and PBIS schools included significantly higher proportions of students who identified as White compared with non-PBIS schools.

Objective: First-generation community college students face unique risks for mental health distress, which can place them at risk for attrition and a myriad of other negative consequences. The aim of the present quantitative investigation was to test the utility of the REDFLAGS model, a mental health literacy based tool for supporting mental wellness, with a national sample of first-generation community college students. Method: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), logistic regression analysis, and a factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) were computed to test the utility of the REDFLAGS model as a tool for promoting first-generation community college students’ mental health. Results: The CFA demonstrated that the dimensionality of the REDFLAGS model was estimated adequately with first-generation community college students. First-generation community college students’ recognition of the REDFLAGS as warning signs for mental distress emerged as a significant positive predictor of making a peer-to-peer referral to the counseling center. The factorial ANOVA revealed that first-generation community college students who were members of a Greek Organization were more likely to identify the REDFLAGS as warning signs for mental distress. Contributions: Previous investigators established multiple strategies for supporting the mental health needs of either first-generation or community college students. First-generation community college student mental health, however, has received little attention. This study demonstrates the utility of the REDFLAGS model with first-generation community college students. Considering the dearth of literature on first-generation community college student mental health, the REDFLAGS model offers novel implications for promoting the mental health needs of first-generation students enrolled in community colleges.

The dimensionality and factorial invariance of scores on the Self-Objectification Beliefs and Behaviors Scale (SOBBS) were examined with a sample of 590 transgender and nonbinary participants. Results failed to disconfirm the two-factor model and provided adequate estimates of internal consistency reliability. Strong, strict, and structural invariance of scores were observed.

Mental Health Disorders (MHDs) are an increasingly pervasive issue on college campuses. The aim of the present investigators was to identify differences in the frequency of attendance in counseling...

Corporal punishment, defined as the application of physical pain (e.g., spanking, slapping, or grabbing) to decrease a child’s undesirable behavior, is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Clients may present to mental health counselors with concerns that stem from their experience of corporal punishment. Mental health counselors work to prevent deleterious consequences of corporal punishment through the provision of psychoeducation on effective parenting strategies. Given that young adults are the largest group of prospective parents in the United States, the present investigators examined attitudes about the utility of corporal punishment as a disciplinary strategy among young adults who do not have children. Results revealed differences in the rates of endorsement of corporal punishment as a disciplinary strategy by gender and ethnicity. Higher rates were found among young adults who identified as male and those who identified as White relative to those who identified as female and those who identified as Latinx, respectively. These findings have a number of implications for challenging stereotypes (e.g., that Latinx clients endorse corporal punishment at higher rates than clients who identify as White) and enhancing mental health counselors’ prevention efforts (e.g., targeting attitudes about corporal punishment among those likely to become parents).

Investigators used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to validate scores on the Lifestyle Practices and Health Consciousness Inventory, a screening tool for integrated aspects of physical...

Quantitative research literacy, including matching variables with the appropriate statistical tests, is a key element in counselor education and preparation. Counselor educators are tasked with teaching quantitative research and statistics, which counselors-in-training tend to find anxiety-producing. Authors aimed to provide a succinct overview of matching variables with appropriate statistical tests and provide strategies counselor educators can use to enhance their pedagogy.

First-generation college students” (FGCS) are at risk for suffering from mental health issues, which have direct implication for their retention and academic success. Past investigators consistently find that college students are more likely to discuss mental health issues with their peers than with college personnel. The first step in peer-to-peer mental health support is screening students on campus to gain a baseline understanding of how they respond when encountering a peer in mental distress. The Mental Distress Response Scale (MDRS) is a screening tool for appraising students” responses to a peer in mental distress. Score validation is a crucial step, as FGCS are a unique college student population and the psychometric properties of instrumentation can vary between different populations. Psychometric testing yielded support for the validity of scores on the MDRS with FGCS. Findings have direct implications for aiding student affairs officials” universal screening efforts to support FGCS” mental health and retention.

Latinx women face a myriad of unique pressures to meet unrealistic standards of beauty that are not captured in the dominant, Eurocentric framework of beauty and body image in the U.S. The majority of the extant body image literature represents the experiences of White women and overlooks salient body areas that women of color may experience dissatisfaction with. The present researchers employed a convergent-parallel mixed methods design to examine demographic differences as well as the lived experiences of Latinx women's relationship with beauty and their bodies. Quantitative results from 118 participants revealed that Latinx women with an annual income 60k (54.2%) reported a higher discrepancy between their actual and ideal buttock size compared to Latinx women with an annual income 60k (45.8%). Furthermore, a thematic analysis revealed four emergent themes that reflected the unique perceptions and lived experiences of 98 Latinx women's experiences with body image. Findings may assist clinicians working with Latinx women, as they will be able to better understand and integrate relevant cultural aspects of body dissatisfaction when working with Latinx clients.

Faculty members play key roles in successful college student retention and degree completion. In recent years, investigators in a variety of higher education disciplines identified numerous factors associated with improving retention and graduation rates, including college student mental health. Faculty members play vital roles in supporting college student mental health, including recognizing and referring students to resources. In this phenomenological study, researchers investigated the lived experiences of faculty members who had active lived experiences with supporting college student mental health. A structural description included five emergent themes, which support and extend the extant literature surrounding the utility of faculty members for supporting college student mental health and retention.

The number of community college students reporting mental health disorders increased from approximately 40% to 49% between 2014 and 2016. Peer-to-peer mental health support, for example, re...

The authors tested the hypothesized model fit between the three-dimensional factor structure of the revised Fit, Stigma, and Value (FSV) scale, a screening tool for appraising barriers to a...

A growing body of literature has established outreach, education, and consultation with counseling referral agents as a key role of college counseling practitioners. The aims of the present study w...

Due to a dearth of research, authors conducted an ex post facto research design to investigate group differences in school-level student outcomes (e.g., achievement, suspension, and attendance rate...

This study investigated counselors' rates of attendance in counseling and used factor analysis to validate the revised Fit, Stigma, and Value Scale, a questionnaire designed to appraise barriers to seeking counseling with a large sample of practicing counselors. Results indicated that 90.3% of practicing counselors had been in counseling, with larger percentages of female than male counselors attending. Logistic regression analysis showed that the value subscale was a significant predictor of counselors' attendance in counseling. The importance of counselors' attendance in counseling for reducing problems of professional competence and the utility of the scale for enhancing the practice of clinical mental health counseling are discussed. Recommendations for future research are provided.

Drawing on the core components of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this qualitative phenomenological study uncovered the lived experiences of 21 Faculty of Color (FOC) who successfully navigated tenure and promotion to achieve the rank of associate professor in departments of educational leadership and administration the United States of America. Two structural themes emerged from the data, Owning of External Locus of Control (subtheme empowerment through intrinsic motivation and collaboration) and Impact of Work on Others. Findings supported the utility of self-determination in FOC’s successful attainment of tenure and promotion. Implications for how institutional agents can use SDT to support FOC on the tenure-track are discussed.

A recently developed model to describe proton collisions from molecules involving basic atoms such as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus (H, C, N, O, P) is extended to treat collisions with multiply charged ions. The ion-atom collisions are computed using the two-center basis generator method (TC-BGM), which has a proven track record of yielding accurate total cross sections for electron capture and ionization. The atomic net ionization cross sections are then used to assemble two models for ion-molecule collisions: an independent atom model (IAM) that follows the Bragg additivity rule (labeled IAM-AR), and also the so-called pixel-counting method (IAM-PCM). The latter yields reduced cross sections relative to IAM-AR near the maximum, since it takes into account the overlapping nature of effective cross sectional areas. The IAM-PCM for higher-charge projectiles leads to strong reductions of net ionization cross sections relative to the IAM-AR method, and is computed directly for projectile charges $Q=1, 2, 3$. The scaling behavior of the IAM-PCM is investigated over a wide range of energies $E$, and at high $E$ it converges towards the IAM-AR. An empirical scaling rule is established which allows to reproduce these results based on proton impact calculations. Detailed comparisons are provided for the uracil target ($\rm C_4 H_4 N_2 O_2$), for which other theoretical as well as experimental results are available. Based on the scaling model derived from the IAM-PCM data it is shown how the experimental data for uracil and water bombarded by multiply charged ions can be reduced to effective $Q=1$ cross sections respectively, and these are compared to proton impact data., Comment: Revisions applied following refereeing process

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the use of mobile health (mHealth) for communicating wellness-related resources and mental health interventions to college students. An extensive review was conducted of electronic databases and the annual reviews from randomly selected college counseling centers across the United States. Results revealed that mHealth is a promising resource for infusing technology into the delivery of mental health support services. Recommendations for integrating mHealth into the delivery of mental health support services on college campuses are provided.

This investigation tested the internal structure of scores on the Mental Distress Response Scale (MDRS), a peer-to-peer mental health support screening tool, with a national sample of 237 adolescents from 111 high schools in 30 states. Results revealed psychometric support for the scores on the MDRS and demographic differences in students’ responses. We discuss implications for how school counselors can use the MDRS to enhance peer-to-peer mental health support as part of a comprehensive school counseling program.

The prevalence of school shootings and other campus violence incidents have called attention to the increasing number of college students who are living with Mental Health Disorders (MHDs). There is a substantial amount of literature on MHDs among college students who are attending 4-year universities. However, the literature is lacking research on MHDs among community college students. The purpose of the current study was to analyze archival data to investigate residential community college students’ awareness of MHDs and their willingness to refer a friend who was showing signs of an MHD to facilitative and debilitative resources. The results of a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed that residential community college students who had high levels of awareness of MHDs were significantly more willing to refer a friend who was showing signs of an MHD to facilitative resources (for example taking them to the counseling center) compared to students with low levels of awareness. This...

We tested the dimensionality of the Revised Fit, Stigma, and Value (FSV) Scale, a screening instrument for assessing barriers to counseling among a national sample of 330 students from 260 high schools across 45 states. Results supported the three-dimensional FSV model and the presence of a second-order factor. Based on the findings, we present implications for enhancing school counselors’ universal screening of barriers and how it impacts comprehensive school counseling program efforts.

A new model to account for geometric screening corrections in an independent-atom-model description of ion-molecule collisions is introduced. The ion-molecule cross sections for net capture and net ionization are represented as weighted sums of atomic cross sections with weight factors that are determined from a geometric model of overlapping cross section areas. Results are presented for proton collisions with targets ranging from diatomic to complex polyatomic molecules. Significant improvement compared to simple additivity rule results and in general good agreement with experimental data are found. The flexibility of the approach opens up the possibility to study more detailed observables such as orientation-dependent and charge-state-correlated cross sections for a large class of complex targets ranging from biomolecules to atomic clusters.