logo logo European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research

EJPER is is a, peer reviewed, online academic research journal.

Subscribe to

Receive Email Alerts

for special events, calls for papers, and professional development opportunities.

Subscribe

Publisher (HQ)

Eurasian Society of Educational Research
Eurasian Society of Educational Research
Christiaan Huygensstraat 44, Zipcode:7533XB, Enschede, THE NETHERLANDS
Eurasian Society of Educational Research
Headquarters
Christiaan Huygensstraat 44, Zipcode:7533XB, Enschede, THE NETHERLANDS
Research Article

Assessing College Students’ Social and Emotional Strengths: A Cross-Cultural Comparison from Mexico, United States, and Spain

Michael J. Furlong , José A. Piqueras , Leticia Chacón-Gutiérrez , Erin Dowdy , Karen Nylund-Gibson , Meiki Chan , Victoria Soto-Sanz , Juan C. Marzo , Tíscar Rodríguez-Jiménez , Agustín E. Martínez-González

Endeavors supporting college students’ positive psychosocial development are gaining attention and investment in various countries and social co.

E

Endeavors supporting college students’ positive psychosocial development are gaining attention and investment in various countries and social contexts. Higher education experiences provide new academic, social, and vocational advancement opportunities at a critical developmental stage. However, higher education can also cause distress due to the challenges and stressors present during this new stage of increased independence. The Social Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education (SEHS-HE) assesses the core psychosocial strengths of individuals transitioning from secondary schools into institutions of higher education (IHE) to aid campus student support services. The present study sought to extend the SEHS-HE research by examining its application with college student samples from Mexico (n = 4,207), United States (n = 1,638), and Spain (n = 1,734). Confirmatory factor analyses investigated the hypothesized SEHS-HE higher-order factor model. The Mexico sample returned an acceptable model fit, but the USA and Spain samples had a suboptimal fit; hence, we explored alternative models. A two-level structure had full invariance for all three samples. This study extends the current scholarship on the conceptual model and psychometric properties of SEHS-HE. The discussion focuses on implications for future research to enhance SEHS-HE in national and cross-national research and practice.

Keywords: Covitality, higher education, measurement invariance, Social Emotional Health Survey.

cloud_download PDF
Cite
Article Metrics
Views
399
Download
790
Citations
Crossref
0

References

American College Health Association. (2018). American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Reference group executive summary Fall 2018. https://bit.ly/3rYVQNz

Anastopoulos, A. D., DuPaul, G. J., Weyandt, L. L., Morrissey-Kane, E., Sommer, J. L., Rhoads, L. H., Murphy, K. R., Gormley, M. J., & Gudmundsdottir, B. G. (2018). Rates and patterns of comorbidity among first-year college students with ADHD. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 47(2), 236–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1105137   

Arslan, G., Allen, K., Telef, B., & Craig, H. (2020). Social-emotional health in higher education: A psychometric evaluation with Turkish students. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. First online 07 July 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2020.1789554

Auerbach, R. P., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Alonso, J., Benjet, C., Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., Ebert, D. D., Green, J. G., Hasking, P., Murray, E., Nock, M. K., Pinder-Amaker, S., Sampson, N. A., Stein, D. J., Vilagut, G., Zaslavsky, A. M., Kessler, R. C., & WHO WMH-ICS Collaborators. (2018). WHO World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Project: prevalence and distribution of mental disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology127(7), 623–638. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000362  

Ballester, L., Alayo, I., Vilagut, G., Almenara, J., Cebrià, A. I., Echeburúa, E., Gabilondo, A., Gili, M., Lagares, C., Piqueras, J. A., Roca, M., Soto-Sanz, V., Blasco, M. J., Castellví, P., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Auerbach, R. P., Nock, M. K., Kessler, R. C., Alonso, J., & UNIVERSAL study group. (2020). Mental disorders in Spanish university students: Prevalence, age-of-onset, severe role impairment and mental health treatment. Journal of Affective Disorders273, 604–613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.04.050  

Bennett, D. A. (2001). How can I deal with missing data in my study? Australian, New Zealand Journal of Public Health25(5), 464–469. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11688629/  

Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238–146. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238

Berman, S., Chaffee, S., & Sarmiento, J. (2018). The practice base for how we learn: Supporting students’ social, emotional, and academic development. Aspen Institute. National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. https://bit.ly/3dPieR2  

Bierman, K. L., & Greenberg, M. T. (2020). Multi-tiered social-emotional learning: PATHS and friendship group in the fast track program. In T. W. Farmer, M. A. Conroy, E. M. Z. Farmer & K. S. Sutherland (Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional and behavioral disorders (pp. 245–260). Routledge.

Blyth, D. A., Borowski, T., Farrington, C. A., Kyllonen, P., & Weissberg, R. P. (2019). Ten criteria for describing and selecting SEL frameworks. measuringSEL. https://bit.ly/3GElxqL

Cambridge-Williams, T., Winsler, A., Kitsantas, A., & Bernard, E. (2013). University 100 orientation courses and living-learning communities boost academic retention and graduation via enhanced self-efficacy and self-regulated learning. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 15(2), 243–268. https://doi.org/10.2190/CS.15.2.f

Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5   

Crisp, R. J., & Turner, R. N. (2014). Essential social psychology (3rd ed.). Sage.

Cudeck, R., & Browne, M. W. (1983). Cross-validation of covariance structures. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 18, 147–167. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr1802_2  

Davidson, W. B., Beck, H. P., & Grisaffe, D. B. (2015). Increasing the institutional commitment of college students: Enhanced measurement and test of a nomological model. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 17, 162–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115578230

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2014). The importance of autonomy for development and well-being. In B. W. Sokol, F. M. E., Grouzet, & U. Miller (Eds.), Self-regulation and autonomy: Social and developmental dimensions of human conduct (pp. 19–46). Cambridge University Press.

Dowdy, E., Ritchey, K., & Kamphaus, R. W. (2010). School-based screening: A population-based approach to inform and monitor children’s mental health needs. School Mental Health, 2, 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-010-9036-3

Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007) Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92, 1087–1101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087

Ebert, D. D., Mortier, P., Kaehlke, F., Bruffaerts, R., Baumeister, H., Auerbach, R. P., Alonso, J., Vilagut, G., Martínez, K. I., Lochner, C., Cuijpers, P., Kuechler, A. M., Green, J., Hasking, P., Lapsley, C., Sampson, N. A., Kessler, R. C., & WHO World Mental Health—International College Student Initiative collaborators. (2019). Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first‐year college students: First cross‐national results from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research28(2), e1782. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1782

Farruggia, S. P., Han, C. W., Watson, L., Moss, T. P., & Bottoms, B. L. (2018). Noncognitive factors and college student success. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice20(3), 308–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025116666539

Furlong, M. J., Dowdy, E., Moore, S., & Kim, E. (2021). Adapting the dual-factor model for universal school-based mental health screening: Bridging the research to practice divide. In K. -A. Allen, M. J. Furlong, S. Suldo, & D. Vella-Brodrick (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology in schools: In support of positive educational processes (3rd ed.). Routledge, Taylor and Francis.

Furlong, M. J., You, S., Renshaw, T. L., Smith, D. C., & O’Malley, M. D. (2014). Preliminary development and validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for secondary students. Social Indicators Research, 117, 1011–1032. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0373-0  

Furlong, M. J., You, S., Shishim, M., & Dowdy, E. (2017). Development and validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey–Higher Education version. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 12, 343­–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-016-9464-9

Gutiérrez, L. C. (2019). Cross-validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education for Mexican and United States college students: A research partnership to foster student well-being. UC Mexus Collaborative Grant Final Report.

Gutman, L. M., & Schoon, I. (2013). The impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes of young people. The Education Endowment Foundation Newsletter. https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A60227  

Hallquist, M. N., & Wiley, J. F. (2018). MplusAutomation: An R Package for Facilitating Large-Scale Latent Variable Analyses in Mplus. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 25(4), 621–638. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2017.1402334

Hamilton, L. S., Doss, C. J., & Steiner, E. D. (2019). Teacher and principal perspectives on social and emotional learning in America's schools: Findings from the American Educator Panels. https://bit.ly/33rXj4N

Hinton, T., Dowdy, E., Nylund-Gibson, K., Furlong, M. J., & Carter, D. (2021). Examining the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary for use with Latinx youth. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 39, 242–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282920953236  

Holden, C. L., Wright, L. E., Herring, A. M., & Sims, P. L. (2021). Imposter syndrome among first-and continuing-generation college students: The roles of perfectionism and stress. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice.  Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251211019379

Hu, L., & Bentler, P. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118  

Iida, J., Ito, A., Aoyama, I., Sugimoto, K., Endo, H., & Furlong, M. J. (2019). Development of the Japanese version of Social Emotional Health Survey. Japanese Journal of Psychology, 94, 795–809. https://doi.org/10.4992/jjpsy.90.17222   

Ito, A., Smith, D. C., You, S., Shimoda, Y., & Furlong, M. J. (2015). Validation and utility of the social emotional health survey-secondary for Japanese students. Contemporary School Psychology, 19, 243–252. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s40688-015-0068-4

Johnson, D. R., Soldner, M., Leonard, J. B., Alvarez, P., Inkelas, K. K., Rowan-Kenyon, H. T., & Longerbeam, S. D. (2007). Examining sense of belonging among first-year undergraduates from different racial/ethnic groups. Journal of College Student Development 48, 525–542. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0054

Jones, C. N., You, S., & Furlong, M. J. (2013). A preliminary examination of covitality as integrated wellbeing in college students. Social Indicators Research, 111, 511–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0017-9

Kern, M. L., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2021). The Palgrave handbook of positive education. Palgrave MacMillian.

Keyes, C. L. M. (2005). The subjective well-being of America’s youth: Toward a comprehensive assessment. Adolescent and Family Health, 4, 3−11. https://bit.ly/3EUHP75

Keyes, C. L. M. (2006). Mental health in adolescence: Is America’s youth flourishing? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.3.395

Knekta, E., & McCartney, M. (2018). What can departments do to increase students’ retention? A case study of students’ sense of belonging and involvement in a biology department. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 22(4), 721–742.  https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1521025118788351

Kroshus, E., Hawrilenko, M., & Browning, A. (2021). Stress, self-compassion, and well-being during the transition to college. Social Science & Medicine, 269, 113514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113514

Lathren, C. R., Rao, S. S., Park, J., & Bluth, K. (2021). Self-compassion and current close interpersonal relationships: A scoping literature review. Mindfulness, 12, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01566-5  

Lee, S., You, S., & Furlong, M. J. (2016). Validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey for Korean school students. Child Indicators Research, 9, 73–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9294-y 

Lenzi, M., Dougherty, D., Furlong, M. J., Dowdy, E., & Sharkey, J. D. (2015a). The configuration protective model: Factors associated with adolescent behavioral and emotional problems. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 38, 49–59.  https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.appdev.2015.03.003

Lenzi, M., Furlong, M. J., Dowdy, E., Sharkey, J. D., Gini, G., & Altoè, G. (2015b). The quantity and variety across domains of psychological and social assets associated with school victimization. Psychology of Violence, 5, 411-421. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0039696

Lerner, R. M., Jervis, P., & Bornstein, M. H. (2021). Enhancing the international study of positive youth development: Process, specificity, and the sample case of character virtues. Journal of Youth Development, 16(2-3), 402–422. https://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/1042  

Martin, J. M. (2010). Stigma and student mental health in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development29(3), 259–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360903470969  

Mofidi, T., El-Alayli, A., & Brown, A. A. (2014). Trait gratitude and grateful coping as they relate to college student persistence, success, and integration in school. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 16(3), 325–349. https://doi.org/10.2190%2FCS.16.3.b

Muñiz, J., Elosua, P., & Hambleton, R. K. (2013). Directrices para la traducción y adaptación de los tests: segunda edición [International Test Commission guidelines for test translation and adaptation. Second edition]. Psicothema, 25(2), 151–157. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2013.24  

Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Muthén & Muthén.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Supporting students’ college success: The role of assessment of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies. The National Academies Press.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). Mental health, substance use, and wellbeing in higher education: Supporting the whole student. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26015  

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2021). OECD survey on social and emotional skill: Technical report. https://bit.ly/3m0Ptp4  

Parkman, A. (2016). The imposter phenomenon in higher education: Incidence and impact. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice16(1), 51–60. https://articlegateway.com/index.php/JHETP/article/view/1936/1836  

Pintrich, P. R., & De Groot, E. V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 33–40.

Piqueras, J. A., Garcia-Olcina, M., Rivera-Riquelme, M., Rodriguez-Jimenez, T., Martinez-Gonzalez, A. E., & Cuijpers, P. (2017). DetectaWeb Project: Study protocol of a web-based detection of mental health of children and adolescents. BMJ open7(10), e017218. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017218  

Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004  

Rand, K. L., Shanahan, M. L., Fischer, I. C., & Fortney, S. K. (2020). Hope and optimism as predictors of academic performance and subjective well-being in college students. Learning and Individual Differences, 81, 101906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101906

Satici, B. (2020). Exploring the relationship between coping humor and subjective happiness: Belongingness and forgiveness as serial mediators. Health Psychology Report, 8(3), 228–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/cvj.12136

Sato, E., Patelis, T., & Geisinger, K. F. (2015). A series on fairness and testing noncognitive factors. National Council on Measurement in Education Newsletter, 23(3), 6–11. https://bit.ly/3s2U8L5  

Satorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (1994). Corrections to test statistics and standard errors in covariance structure analysis. In A. Von Eye & C. C. Clogg (Eds.), Analysis of latent variables in developmental research (pp. 399–419). Sage.

Schafer, J. L. (1999). Multiple imputation: A primer. Statistical Methods in Medicine, 8(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1191/096228099671525676

Solberg, V. S., O’Brien, K., Villareal P., Kennel R., & Davis, B. (1993) Self-efficacy and Hispanic college students: Validation of the college self-efficacy instrument. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 15, 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863930151004

Steiger, J. H., & Lind, A. (1980, May 27-29). Statistically based tests for the number of common factors [Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IA, USA.

Taylor, J., & Hamilton, L. S. (2019). How do you measure social and emotional learning? TheRANDblog. https://bit.ly/3rYHay1

Telef, B. B., & Furlong, M. J. (2017). Adaptation and validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary into Turkish culture. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 5, 255­–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2016.1234988

Uyun, Q., Kurniawan, I. N., & Jaufalaily, N. (2019). Repentance and seeking forgiveness: The effects of spiritual therapy based on Islamic tenets to improve mental health. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 22(2), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2018.1514593

Weiss, A., & Luciano, M. (2015). The genetics and evolution of covitality. In A. Weiss (Ed.), Genetics of psychological well-being: The role of heritability and genetics in positive psychology (pp. 146–160). Oxford University Press.

Wiium, N., Beck, M., & Ferrer-Wreder, L. A. (2021). The importance of developmental Assets to mental health in Norwegian youth. Frontiers in Psychology. Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687537

Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(7), 890–905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005

Xie, J., Liu, S., Yang, C., & Furlong, M. J. (2017). Chinese version of Social and Emotional Health Survey–Secondary. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 25(6), 1012–1016. https://bit.ly/3pT1aPZ

You, S., Furlong, M. J., Dowdy, E., Renshaw, T. L., Smith, D. C., & O’Malley, M. D. (2014). Further validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for high school students. Applied Research in Quality of Life9(4), 997–1015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-013-9282-2  

You, S., Furlong, M. J., Felix, E., & O’Malley, M. D. (2015). Validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for five sociocultural groups: Multigroup invariance and latent mean analyses. Psychology in the Schools, 52, 349–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21828

Zachariah, S., Boman, P., Mergler, A., & Furlong, M. J. (2015). Examining well-being, anxiety, and self-deception in university students. Cogent Psychology, 2, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2014.993850

...