Coping styles moderate the relationship between perceived discrimination and eating behaviors during the transition to college.

The transition to college is a critical developmental window during which eating behaviors are susceptible to dysregulation. Changes in exposure to discrimination contribute to alterations in eating behaviors, which may be exacerbated or attenuated by coping styles. The present longitudinal study examines whether increases in perceived discrimination predict increases in overeating and decreases in eating well during the transition to college. We expect that adaptive coping styles will buffer against, while maladaptive coping styles will exacerbate, the effects of increases in perceived discrimination on increases in overeating and decreases in eating well. First year students (n = 804) were assessed at two time points: the spring before freshman year (Time 1) and one year later during the spring semester of freshman year (Time 2). Two distinct coping styles emerged from a factor analysis: adaptive (active coping, planning, emotional support, positive reframing, acceptance, instrumental support) and maladaptive coping (denial, venting, self-blame, self-distraction). Increases in perceived discrimination, lower adaptive coping, and higher maladaptive coping had main effects for predicting more overeating at Time 2. Among students who reported increases in perceived discrimination, higher use of adaptive coping was associated with less overeating at Time 2 while higher use of maladaptive coping was associated with more overeating. While adaptive and maladaptive coping styles had main effects on eating well, change in perceived discrimination did not. Neither adaptive nor maladaptive coping styles interacted with change in perceived discrimination to predict eating well. Findings inform a gap in the literature about the relationship between discrimination and eating behaviors from a developmental perspective by demonstrating that adaptive and maladaptive coping styles influence the effects of changes in perceived discrimination on overeating during the college transition.

Development of emotion regulation across the first two years of college.

INTRODUCTION: Emotion regulation is thought to develop substantially from late adolescence into early adulthood; further, the rate of development purportedly varies based on personal and contextual characteristics. However, little research has explicitly documented this maturation in young adulthood or identified its determinants. We aimed to (1) characterize how adaptive (positive reappraisal, emotional social support-seeking) and maladaptive (suppression, substance use coping) emotion regulation strategies changed over time and (2) predict change in each strategy based on baseline personal, social, and motivational characteristics. METHODS: We followed a sample of 1578 students entering university in the northeastern United States across their first two years, assessing them four times. RESULTS: As expected, social support-seeking increased and suppression decreased. However, contrary to expectations, cognitive reappraisal declined over time while substance use coping increased. Women generally used more adaptive emotion regulation strategies than did men; social engagement and connection and eudaimonic well-being were generally predictive of using more adaptive coping over time. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, students did not consistently demonstrate maturation to more adaptive emotion regulation and in fact exhibited decrements over the first two years of college. Students' baseline characteristics accounted for substantial degrees of change in emotion regulation. These findings suggest potentially fruitful directions for interventions to assist college students in developing more adaptive emotion regulation skills.

Testing models of reciprocal relations between social influence and integration in STEM across the college years.

The present study tests predictions from the Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influences (TIMSI) concerning processes linking social interactions to social integration into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) communities and careers. Students from historically overrepresented groups in STEM were followed from their senior year of high school through their senior year in college. Based on TIMSI, we hypothesized that interactions with social influence agents (operationalized as mentor network diversity, faculty mentor support, and research experiences) would promote both short- and long-term integration into STEM via social influence processes (operationalized as science self-efficacy, identity, and internalized community values). Moreover, we examined the previously untested hypothesis of reciprocal influences from early levels of social integration in STEM to future engagement with social influence agents. Results of a series of longitudinal structural equation model-based mediation analyses indicate that, in the short term, higher levels of faculty mentorship support and research engagement, and to a lesser degree more diverse mentor networks in college promote deeper integration into the STEM community through the development of science identity and science community values. Moreover, results indicate that, in the long term, earlier high levels of integration in STEM indirectly influences research engagement through the development of higher science identity. These results extend our understanding of the TIMSI framework and advance our understanding of the reciprocal nature of social influences that draw students into STEM careers.

Self-regulation and STEM persistence in minority and non-minority students across the first year of college.

Psychological factors have been implicated in STEM persistence but remain poorly understood. In particular, the role of self-regulation--the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional skills that allow individuals to work efficiently toward their desired goals, especially when under stress--has received minimal attention. Psychological factors may be particularly important for persistence by underrepresented minority (URM) students, many of whom face significant barriers to success in STEM. We examined the extent to which self-regulation predicts STEM persistence in 732 STEM students and whether minority status moderated self-regulation's associations with STEM persistence. We found minimal differences in self-regulation styles between URM and nonunderrepresented minority students. Baseline cognitive-emotional self-regulation predicted intentions to persist in a science career, using alcohol and drugs to cope with stress predicted less persistence in STEM major across the year, and only URM status predicted end-of-year GPA. Minority status did not moderate these associations. Future research is needed on self-regulation skills and students' trajectories of STEM success.

Motivational pathways to alcohol use and abuse among Black and White adolescents.

Using data from a biracial community sample of adolescents, the present study examined trajectories of alcohol use and abuse over a 15-year period, from adolescence into young adulthood, as well as the extent to which these trajectories were differentially predicted by coping and enhancement motives for alcohol use among the 2 groups. Coping and enhancement motivations (M. L. Cooper, 1994) refer to the strategic use of alcohol to regulate negative and positive emotions, respectively. Results showed that Black and White youth follow distinct alcohol trajectories from adolescence into young adulthood and that these trajectories are differentially rooted in the regulation of negative and positive emotions. Among Black drinkers, coping motives assessed in adolescence more strongly forecast differences in alcohol involvement into their early 30s, whereas enhancement motives more strongly forecast differences among White drinkers. Results of the present study suggest that different models may be needed to account for drinking behavior among Blacks and Whites and that different approaches may prove maximally effective in reducing heavy or problem drinking among the 2 groups.

Risky business: Is there an association between casual sex and mental health among emerging adults?

A multiethnic sample of single, heterosexual, emerging-adult college students (N = 3,907) ages 18 to 25, from 30 institutions across the United States, participated in a study about identity, culture, psychological well-being, and risky behaviors. Given ongoing debates about the connection between casual sex and psychological adjustment, in the current study we assessed the cross-sectional association of participation in casual sex with psychological well-being and distress. A greater proportion of men (18.6%) compared to women (7.4%) reported having had casual sex in the month prior to assessment. Structural equation modeling indicated that casual sex was negatively associated with well-being (ß = .20, p < .001) and positively associated with psychological distress (ß = .16, p < .001). Gender did not moderate these associations. For emerging-adult college students, engaging in casual sex may elevate risk for negative psychological outcomes.

Good Choices, Poor Choices: Relationship Between the Quality of Identity Commitments and Psychosocial Functioning.

Research indicates making identity commitments on the part of emerging adults is associated with a wide range of psychosocial benefits. Data from a large research collaborative were used to evaluate hypotheses drawn from eudaimonic identity theory that the benefits of commitment are attributable to the quality of the commitments held. Findings from a study with 9,650 students attending 30 colleges and universities replicated previous research indicating the benefits of identity commitments with respect to subjective well-being, psychological well-being, self-esteem, an internal locus of control; and reduced likelihood of symptoms of general anxiety, social anxiety, and depression. However, when a measure of the quality of identity commitments was added to the analyses, results indicated that commitment quality accounted almost entirely for the associations of identity commitments with psychosocial functioning. Identity commitments of low quality were found to be associated with psychological costs rather than benefits. Implications for helping emerging adults distinguish better identity choices are discussed.

The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity.

The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB) was developed to measure well-being in a manner consistent with how it is conceptualized in eudaimonist philosophy. Aspects of eudaimonic well-being assessed by the QEWB include self-discovery, perceived development of one's best potentials, a sense of purpose and meaning in life, intense involvement in activities, investment of significant effort, and enjoyment of activities as personally expressive. The QEWB was administered to two large, ethnically diverse samples of college students drawn from multiple sites across the United States. A three-part evaluation of the instrument was conducted: (1) evaluating psychometric properties, (2) comparing QEWB scores across gender, age, ethnicity, family income, and family structure, and (3) assessing the convergent, discriminant, construct, and incremental validity of the QEWB. Six hypotheses relating QEWB scores to identity formation, personality traits, and positive and negative psychological functioning were evaluated. The internal consistency of the scale was high and results of independent CFAs indicated that the QEWB items patterned onto a common factor. The distribution of scores approximated a normal curve. Demographic variables were found to predict only small proportions of QEWB score variability. Support for the hypotheses tested provides evidence for the validity of the QEWB as an instrument for assessing eudaimonic well-being. Implications for theory and future research directions are discussed.

Identity consolidation and health risk behaviors in college students.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective role of personal identity consolidation against health risk behaviors in college-attending emerging adults. METHODS: A multisite sample of 1546 college students completed measures of personal identity consolidation and recent risk behavior engagement. RESULTS: Multivariate Poisson regression indicated that personal identity consolidation was negatively related to binge drinking, illicit drug use, sexual risk behaviors, and risky driving. These findings were consistent across gender, ethnicity, and place of residence. CONCLUSIONS: A consolidated sense of personal identity may protect college-attending emerging adults from health-compromising behaviors. Health professionals could incorporate an identity development component into college health programming.

Neuropsychological effects of treatments for adults with cancer: a meta-analysis and review of the literature.

A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate possible neuropsychological effects of treatments for cancer in adults. A search revealed 30 studies, encompassing 29 eligible samples, and leading to inclusion of a total of 838 patients and control participants. A total of 173 effect sizes (Cohen's d) were extracted across 7 cognitive domains and as assessed in the literature via 3 methods of comparison (post-treatment compared with normative data, controls, or baseline performance). Statistically significant negative effect sizes were found consistently across both normative and control methods of comparison for executive function, verbal memory, and motor function. The largest effects were for executive function and verbal memory normative comparisons (-.93 and -.91, respectively). When limiting the sample of studies in the analyses to only those with relatively "less severe" diagnoses and treatments, the effects remained. While these results point toward some specific cognitive effects of systemic cancer therapies in general, no clear clinical implications can yet be drawn from these results. More research is needed to clarify which treatments may produce cognitive decrements, the size of those effects, and their duration, while ruling out a wide variety of possible mediating or moderating variables.