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ObjectiveTo examine inequalities in sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic by gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic position (SEP), and test associations between discrimination and sleep quality in a national longitudinal cohort of emerging adult college students.ParticipantsParticipants were enrolled in college full-time and were aged 18-22 at baseline.MethodsParticipants completed online surveys in spring 2020 (N = 707) and summer 2021 (n = 313). Measures included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Everyday Discrimination Scale.ResultsMost students reported poor sleep quality (78% in 2020; 82% in 2021) and those from marginalized groups generally experienced worse sleep quality. Discrimination was associated with poorer concurrent sleep quality at both time points.ConclusionsSleep inequalities among college students continued to manifest during the pandemic, even when students were not necessarily on campus. Colleges should take a multi-pronged approach to promote sleep quality through individual, community, and institutional interventions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging impacts on college-going emerging adults and their communities, which may prompt them to engage civically. Using spring 2020 survey data from a national sample of college students aged 18–22 (N = 707), we document the prevalence of pandemic-related civic engagement as well as differences in engagement by sociopolitical perspectives. The majority of participants (70.4%) reported engaging civically at least once, most commonly online (e.g., sharing information about COVID-19 on social media, volunteering virtually). Results showed differences in civic engagement by communal orientation and the candidate participants intended to vote for in the 2020 presidential election, but not by political party affiliation. Qualitative data provide insight into different motivations for pandemic-related civic engagement. We conclude that emerging adult college students’ pandemic-related civic engagement is partially motivated by their sociopolitical perspectives and discuss implications for future work examining emerging adult civic engagement more broadly.

PurposeTo study how young adult college students are managing their health behaviors and risks related to spreading COVID-19.MethodsWe created a national cohort of full-time college students in late April 2020 (n = 707), and conducted a follow-up survey with participants in July 2020 (n = 543). Participants reported COVID-19-related health risk behaviors and COVID-19 symptoms, and also responded to an open-ended prompt about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their lives. Quantitative data were analyzed in Stata and we conducted content analysis to identify themes in the qualitative data.ResultsFor most health protective behaviors (e.g., frequent handwashing, social distancing), participants were less compliant in summer 2020 than spring 2020, with the exception of face mask use, which increased. In each month of the first half of 2020, only approximately half of participants with any symptoms that could indicate COVID-19 stayed home exclusively while symptomatic (there was no meaningful change from pre-pandemic or over the course of the pandemic). In qualitative data, the participants who had gone to bars or clubs at least twice within a 4-week period this summer reported being bored and/or isolated, stressed, and/or taking pandemic safety measures seriously.ConclusionsThese findings suggest multiple areas for intervention, including harm reduction and risk management education approaches for the students who are going to bars and clubs, and creating policies and programs to better incentivize young people with symptoms to stay home exclusively while symptomatic.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to document young adults' perceived stress and anxiety in a diverse sample of college students across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe recruited, via Instagram, a sample of full-time college students aged 18-22 from across the U.S. We surveyed them in April (baseline; N = 707; mean age = 20.0, SD = 1.3) and July (follow-up) 2020. This study presents overall levels of perceived stress and general anxiety symptoms and inequalities across each of these outcomes by gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and household income. We also explore potential explanations for these health issues by analyzing baseline qualitative data.ResultsAll students, on average, were suffering from perceived stress and anxiety, with especially high levels in April. We also identified inequalities in college student mental well-being, particularly by gender identity and sexual orientation. Women reported worse well-being compared with men; transgender and gender diverse and sexual minority youths reported worse outcomes than their cisgender, heterosexual peers at both time points. Qualitative data illustrate how the COVID-19 pandemic has generated educational, economic, and environmental stressors that are affecting college students' well-being.ConclusionsAs colleges and universities think about how to manage and mitigate the infectious disease dimensions of COVID-19 among their student populations, they must also consider who is most at risk for increased stress and anxiety during the pandemic.

Extensive literature highlights positive outcomes experienced by students whose parents and teachers have strong relationships, but less is known about the factors that influence parent-teacher relationship strength. Using data from "The Impact of Grade Retention: A Developmental Approach," we identify parent-level predictors of the developmental trajectories of seven dimensions of parent and teacher ratings of relationship strength and evaluate the association between relationship strength and students' academic performance in grades 1-8. Results show that parent acculturation, parent-teacher ethnic concordance, and beliefs about children's educational attainment predict trajectories of parent and teacher ratings of relationship strength. Relationship strength is both positively and negatively related to student reading and math performance. Results identify unique patterns of predictors for parent and teacher ratings of relationship strength and suggest that strong relationships can be related to student academic success or underperformance. Implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Objective: The present study examines sociopolitical stress, coping, and well-being among college students. Participants: Young adult college students (N = 588; ages 18–29; 72% cisgender women) from 10 universities in the USA participated in this study. Methods: Participants completed a 45-minute online survey with closed-ended and open-ended questions, administered via Qualtrics. Results: Election-related sociopolitical stress was high with notable differences across students' demographic backgrounds (e.g., Hispanic/Latinx students, women, and sexual minority students reported high sociopolitical stress). Among those who reported being stressed by the election (N = 448), closed-ended and open-ended data reveal coping strategies including self-care, drugs and alcohol, and further civic action/political participation. Higher sociopolitical stress predicted more depression and many coping strategies were related with flourishing. Conclusions: Young adult college students are experiencing election-related sociopolitical stress and are coping in different ways. More work is needed to understand what coping strategies support well-being. Implications for colleges are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 30% of students who enter the postsecondary education system do so through 2-year colleges. The majority of these students intend to earn a bachelor's degree, but most leave college before earning a diploma from a 4-year institution. The discrepancy between bachelor's degree aspirations and degree attainment rates of students who enter through 2-year colleges suggests that vertical transfer students—those who transfer from 2- to 4-year colleges—face unique obstacles to academic performance and retention that affect their likelihood of earning a bachelor's degree. Similar barriers exist for economically disadvantaged students, who may be more likely to enter the postsecondary education system through 2-year colleges. This scoping review synthesizes the literature on factors influencing economically disadvantaged vertical transfer students' academic performance in the first year posttransfer and retention between the first and second year posttransfer. Implications for 2- and 4-year institutions and recommendations for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how a community engagement model of near-peer counseling impacts counselors' own college success as underrepresented students in higher education, here defined as one-year persistence in college. Near-peer mentors participated in a program provided by College Access: Research and Action (CARA), which trains young people to support peers in their home communities at New York City public high schools and City University of New York (CUNY) 2-year colleges through critical college application, enrollment, and retention milestones. Aggregated across 4 years of data, our results indicate CARA near-peer counselors are nearly twice as likely to persist in college (p < .001) as peers with similar demographic and academic characteristics not participating in CARA. Findings are replicated for students of color (2.09 times higher, p < .001) and economically disadvantaged students (1.78 times higher, p = .003). Implications for peer mentor program development through public university-community partnerships are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives The emergence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the measures implemented to curb its spread may have deleterious effects on mental health. Older adults may be at increased risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes because opportunities to remain socially connected have diminished. Research is needed to better understand the impact of pandemic-related stress on mental health. The purpose of this study is 3-fold: (a) to examine the influences of COVID-19 pandemic-related stress on depression, anxiety, and loneliness; (b) to assess the mediating role of coping style and social support; and (c) to investigate whether these relationships vary across age. Research Design and Methods Participants (N = 1,318) aged 18–92 years completed an online survey assessing pandemic-related stress, mental health, social support, coping, and their experiences with social distancing, during the initial implementation of social distancing measures in the United States. Results Social support and coping style were found to relate to psychosocial outcomes. Avoidant coping was the strongest mediator of the relationship between pandemic-related stress and psychosocial outcomes, particularly depression. Avoidant coping more strongly mediated the relationship between stress and depression in younger adults compared to older adults. Discussion and Implications Results were consistent with the stress and coping framework and recent work highlighting older adults' resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight the associations between positive coping behaviors and psychosocial well-being and indicate that older adults may use unique adaptive mechanisms to preserve well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between cognition, measured via the Digit Symbol Substitution Task, and subjective well-being (measured using the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Positive and Negative Affect scale) in a community-based sample of middle-aged and older adults. Specifically, we examined both the cross-sectional and the longitudinal relationships between processing speed and subjective well-being. Data are from participants between 40-85 years-old (at baseline) who participated in the German Aging Survey across four waves. Results showed that processing speed was a weak but consistent predictor of positive affect, while age was associated with decreases in negative affect and positive affect, and increases in life satisfaction cross-sectionally. Conversely, cross-lagged panel analyses showed that the temporal relationship between processing speed and positive affect was close to zero, and non-significant. The results of this study shed additional light on the relationship between subjective well-being and cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispositional optimism is considered a stable personality trait and as such may influence expectations about outcomes in a variety of decision-making scenarios. The current study assessed the relationship between dispositional optimism and decision-making behavior when risk is present. To investigate whether optimism was associated with risky decisionmaking behavior, we examined the relationships between dispositional optimism and two correlates (attributional style and trait hope) and risk-taking behavior on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) for 61 participants (Mage = 19.62). Correlational analyses between the three measures of optimism and IGT performance indicate that dispositional optimism and risky decision-making behavior are not significantly related to one another. This study contributes to the literature examining how individual differences influence decision-making. A broader perspective on the factors that influence decision making is necessary so that the mechanisms that predict and explain risky decision making can be better understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The positivity effect and the positivity bias were examined in voluntary and involuntary autobiographical memories in a sample of younger (n = 69, Mage   = 23.2) and older adults (n = 57, Mage = 67.72). The positivity effect has been shown to be sensitive to instructional constraints and cognitive resources. Instructions were manipulated in the voluntary autobiographical memory condition such that participants were instructed to retrieve memories with different levels of constraints. Participants also completed two measures of cognitive control and an assessment of future time perspective. There was no evidence of the positivity effect or positivity bias once depressive symptoms were included as a covariate in the analyses, nor did cognitive control influence memory valence. Future time perspective did not mediate the relationship between age and memory valence. These results suggest that additional research should focus on potential variables that may influence the positivity effect and bias within autobiographical memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociopolitical stress arises in reaction to awareness of, exposure to, and/or involvement in political events. Among a longitudinal cohort of 628 college students from 10 universities across the U.S., we explored trajectories of sociopolitical stress during the 2020 United States presidential election season and examined relationships to psychological well-being. Growth mixture modeling classified our sample into four subgroups each with distinct trajectories of sociopolitical stress: High and Decreasing , Moderate and Increasing , Consistently Low , and High-to-Low . Participants with lower levels of sociopolitical stress expressed higher psychological well-being (high flourishing, high optimism, low anxiety symptoms, low depressive symptoms). The High and Decreasing subgroup was associated with the highest levels of civic action. Participants in the High and Decreasing trajectory were 20 times more likely to identify as LGBQ+, and 4 times more likely to be a woman or a transgender/gender diverse student, compared to participants in the Consistently Low subgroup., Competing Interests: We have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (© 2023 The Authors.)