Sense of belonging for college students with PTSD: the role of safety, stigma, and campus climate.

ObjectiveThis study explored differences in sense of belonging between students who identify as having PTSD and those who do not and then investigated the role of safety, stigma, and campus climate for mental health in this process. Participants: Participants included 162 undergraduates enrolled at United States institutions. Methods: Data were from the 2015-2016 Healthy Minds study. Analysis included an independent samples t-test and hierarchical regression models. Results: Results suggested that students with PTSD experienced less of a sense of belonging on their campus relative to students who do not have PTSD. Our model including safety, stigma, and campus climate explained 50% of the variance in predicting sense of belonging in the PTSD group. Conclusions: Results support the importance of clinicians, staff, and faculty helping students with PTSD to feel an increased sense of safety, reducing stigma for mental health, and improving campus climate for mental health on their campuses.

Highlighting Prosocial Affordances of Science in Textbooks to Promote Science Interest.

The prevalent stereotype that scientific fields do not afford opportunities to fulfill goals of helping others deters student interest and participation in science. We investigated whether introductory college science textbooks that highlight the prosocial utility value of science can be used to change beliefs about the affordances of scientific work. In study 1, undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to read a science textbook chapter with added prosocial utility value expressed greater beliefs that the science topic afforded prosocial goals and increased interest in the scientific topic, compared with two control conditions. Mediation analysis demonstrated that interest was enhanced through increased beliefs that the topic afforded prosocial opportunities. Multiple group comparison tests indicated that underrepresented minority students (i.e., African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans) might benefit the most from efforts to strengthen prosocial affordance beliefs. In study 2, we conducted a brief landscape analysis of science textbooks and found that texts are missing opportunities to emphasize the prosocial utility value of science. We discuss recommendations for science educators, curriculum designers, and researchers who want to increase and broaden science participation.

Stigmatization of Hispanic children, pre-adolescents, and adolescents with mental illness: exploration using a national database.

This paper examines descriptive statistics for the primary payer, length of stay, and admission source of an acute care hospitalization of Hispanic children--pre-adolescents, and adolescents with a primary psychiatric Diagnostic Related Group (DRG)--and relates these variables to the concept of stigma. This paper was a secondary analysis that used data from the National Inpatient Sample database. Psychosis was the most frequent diagnosis of Hispanic youth who were hospitalized. More Hispanic pre-adolescents had a psychiatric DRG than any other ethnic group but fewer Hispanic adolescents were diagnosed with a psychiatric DRG than any other ethnic group. For Hispanic pre-adolescents and adolescents, the primary payer was Medicaid versus private insurance for White pre-adolescents and adolescents. The length of stay was approximately the same for all ethnic groups. The admission source differed for Hispanic pre-adolescents and adolescents with the majority of pre-adolescents being admitted routinely and the majority of Hispanic adolescents being admitted through emergency departments. Recommendations are made for future research, clinical practice, and public policy related to the stigmatization of Hispanic children and adolescents with mental illness.