Applying the Chaos Theory of Careers as a Framework for College Career Centers

The chaos theory of careers (CTC; Pryor & Bright, 2011 ) has emerged as a career development theory to describe the reality of career development and account for the changing nature of work in the 21st century. Integrating CTC into a coherent framework accessible to practitioners is an ongoing process. In recent years, CTC has gained traction within some college career centers. Although techniques and interventions have been discussed to address some of the primary issues, no overarching framework has been conceptualized. This article proposes a model to conceptualize CTC in an accessible framework for college career centers, students, and beyond.     

Examining College Counselors' Integration of Religion and Spirituality Into Substance Abuse Counseling

The authors explored college counselors' (N = 77) integration of religion and spirituality into substance abuse counseling. Results indicated a discrepancy between the importance ratings of religion and spirituality and the frequency of using such elements in counseling practice.     

Associations between multiple health risk behaviors and mental health among Chinese college students

Although there is substantial evidence that health risk behaviors increase risks of premature morbidity and mortality, little is known about the multiple health risk behaviors in Chinese college students. Here, we investigated the prevalence of multiple health risk behaviors and its relation to mental health among Chinese college students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Wuhan, China from May to June 2012. The students reported their health risk behaviors using self-administered questionnaires. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the self-rating depression scale and self-rating anxiety scale, respectively. A total of 2422 college students (1433 males) aged 19.7 ± 1.2 years were participated in the study. The prevalence of physical inactivity, sleep disturbance, poor dietary behavior, Internet addiction disorder (IAD), frequent alcohol use and current smoking was 62.0, 42.6, 29.8, 22.3, 11.6 and 9.3%, respectively. Significantly increased risks for depression and anxiety were found among students with frequent alcohol use, sleep disturbance, poor dietary behavior and IAD. Two-step cluster analysis identified two different clusters. Participants in the cluster with more unhealthy behaviors showed significantly increased risk for depression (odds ratio (OR): 2.21; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.83, 2.67) and anxiety (OR: 2.32; 95%CI: 1.85, 2.92). This study indicates that a relatively high prevalence of multiple health risk behaviors was found among Chinese college students. Furthermore, the clustering of health risk behaviors was significantly associated with increased risks for depression and anxiety.     

受害者公正敏感性对生活满意度的影响:上行社会比较和妒忌的中介作用

采用整群抽样法对福建省三所大学的638名大一至大四学生进行问卷调查,探讨受害者公正敏感性与生活满意度的关系,以及上行社会比较和妒忌在二者关系中的作用机制。结果表明： （1）在控制了性别、年龄后,受害者公正敏感性、上行社会比较和妒忌两两之间呈显著正相关,且三者均与生活满意度呈显著负相关;（2）受害者公正敏感性主要通过妒忌的单独中介作用对生活满意度产生影响,同时还会通过上行社会比较和妒忌的链式中介作用对其生活满意度产生影响,但该链式中介作用微弱。本研究揭示了受害者公正敏感性与生活满意度的关系及其作用机制,为引导大学生降低因受害者公正敏感性而对生活满意度产生的负面影响,更好地促进自身心理健康发展提供了建议。     

大学生地域歧视现象态度量表的编制及信效度检验

地域歧视现象的存在是违背和谐社会理念的,人们对此现象是什么态度?研究以费施贝因和阿扎吉提出的理性行为模型理论为基础,选取网络上最活跃的大学生为样本,编制了大学生地域歧视现象态度量表,构建了对地域歧视现象态度、对地域歧视者态度和对被歧视者态度3个维度。通过整理访谈资料、参考相关量表、专家讨论等方法编制条目。选取358名被试进行预测试,617名被试正式测试。研究结果表明,大学生地域歧视现象态度量表建构的3个维度结构合理,量表的项目分析、探索性分析和验证性分析符合心理测量学要求,是测量中国大学生地域歧视现象态度的有效工具。     

“It's Like Power to Move”: Black Students’ Psychosocial Experiences in Black Studies Courses at a Predominantly White Institution

This study examined Black students’ experiences in culture‐centered courses that focused on the historical and contemporary experiences of Blacks in America and across the African diaspora. Using a qualitative approach, the authors investigated the perceptions of how Black Studies courses shaped the psychosocial experiences and identity development of Black students (N = 24) at a predominantly White institution. Data from semistructured focus group interviews revealed several themes, including psychological empowerment, self‐determination, counterspaces, and community perpetuity. The authors suggest ways counselors and educators can support Black students’ psychosocial development and provide outreach to diverse student populations. Este estudio examinó las experiencias de estudiantes negros en cursos centrados en la cultura que se enfocaron en las experiencias históricas y contemporáneas de personas negras en Estados Unidos y a lo largo de la diáspora africana. Usando un enfoque cualitativo, los autores investigaron las percepciones sobre cómo los cursos de Cultura Negra dieron forma a las experiencias psicosociales y al desarrollo de la identidad de estudiantes negros (N = 24) en una institución predominantemente blanca. Los datos obtenidos de entrevistas semiestructuradas en grupos de enfoque revelaron varios temas que incluyen el empoderamiento psicológico, la autodeterminación, los espacios seguros y la perpetuidad de la comunidad. Los autores sugieren distintas formas en las que los consejeros y educadores pueden apoyar el desarrollo psicosocial de los estudiantes negros y proporcionar un acercamiento a poblaciones diversas de estudiantes.     

What do tertiary level students in the U.S.A. and Northern Ireland (UK) worry about? An exploratory study

The purpose of this study is to determine the personal and social worries of samples of tertiary-level students in the U.S.A. and Northern Ireland (UK) using the Things I Worry About Scale (TIWAS). An online questionnaire, which included the TIWAS, was completed by two samples (U.S.A.?=?71 and Northern Ireland?=?187). Results indicate that students, in both locations, report worrying frequently about a similar broad range of issues, particularly the challenges of academic study and achievement, financial matters and future career possibilities. The needs of individual students who express frequent worrying about experiences ‘sometimes’ worried about by the majority are noted. The overall findings support perceptions that a majority of students are rather anxious, are under considerable pressure and worry very frequently.     

Development of an Internet Intervention to Promote Wellbeing in College Students

Objective

While tertiary students commonly experience distress that substantially impacts functioning and performance, few seek help. Innovative strategies are needed to promote wellbeing and address this distress. The current article describes the development, acceptability testing, and use of an Internet intervention to promote student wellbeing and resilience—thedesk.

Method

Acceptability and useability of the program were evaluated by user analytics and focus groups.

Results

In the first 3.5 years, 118,000 individuals accessed the website and had 163,000 sessions averaging 5.3 min and 6.9 accessed pages. Users’ wellbeing scores were positively skewed, suggesting that the engaged content has broad relevance. While the percentage of people leaving the site after viewing the homepage was considered acceptable at 50%, there is significant room to improve engagement. Responses from consumer focus groups suggested high acceptability, perceived usability, and likely utility. Concerns included data security and, for international students, the need for greater direction on program use.

Conclusions

While further research is needed to evaluate the effects of thedesk on wellbeing and distress, the current results suggest that it provides highly accessible support that is well accepted by most tertiary students and has the potential for use as a stand‐alone intervention or, adjunctively, to increase the impact of other student support.     

The Role of Social Support,Being Present,and Self‐kindness in University Student Psychological Distress

Objective

Self‐kindness, which is thought to be part of self‐compassion, has the potential to contribute to mental health, as well as serve as a focus for interventions. However, little attention has been given to the potential role of self‐kindness specifically, especially in the context of mindful presence and available social support, in buffering distress.

Method

Structural equation modelling was used to test a theoretically based model of how these factors relate to each other and psychological distress. Participants were 592 Australian university students.

Results

Results confirmed our hypotheses, showing that: (a) receiving social support is important to the capacity for self‐kindness both directly and indirectly through the ability to “be present,” and (b) the relationship between social support and psychological distress is partially mediated by the practices of self‐kindness and being present. The model of social support, being present, and self‐kindness accounted for half the variance in psychological distress. With the addition of stressors, a regression model explained a total of 62% of the variance.

Conclusions

These findings have implications for understanding the construct of self‐kindness and its role in the development of interventions to improve student success.     

主动性人格与大学生创业准备行为的关系:创业意向的中介效应与创业社会支持的调节作用

基于生态系统理论和有意创业行为的整合模型,本研究探讨了主动性人格与创业准备行为的关系,以及创业意向的中介效应和创业社会支持的调节作用。对1659名大学生进行问卷调查,结果表明:(1)主动性人格正向预测创业准备行为;(2)创业意向在主动性人格和创业准备行为的关系中起部分中介作用;(3)创业社会支持调节主动性人格通过创业意向预测创业准备行为的前半段,预示着高创业社会支持可能会增强主动性人格对创业意向的积极影响,进而促进创业准备行为。研究结果反映了个体特质与环境因素的交互作用,对如何科学有效地促进大学生的创业准备行为具有启示意义。