During the second decade of the 21st century families and schools world-wide have been affected by several critical events, with economic recession, the refugee crisis, and lately the COVID-19 pandemic being the most prominent. Pertaining to the school community (students, educators, administration, parents, school personnel etc.), evidence-based interventions for improving mental health and supporting psychosocial adjustment are necessary. In this paper the development, implementation, and evaluation of the international WeCARE (We Connect, Accept, Respect, Empower) program, an online multilevel intervention for promoting well-being and resilience in the school community during unsettling times, is presented. The Program has a multicultural perspective and provides the opportunity to students from different countries to cooperate and develop multicultural skills. The intervention is based on a conceptual model for enhancing positive development, resilience, social and emotional skills, and competence. The interventions were implemented on individual and system levels over four consecutive years, including web-based teachers’ training and supervision, seminars for parents, and classroom implementation. Furthermore, collaboration amongst schools and educational settings was highlighted, in the form of networking at national and international level. Based on the evaluation results, the necessity for further development and implementation of programs for the promotion of resilience and well-being during unsettling times is discussed.

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.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected people in multiple dimensions. In addition to the social, physical health, financial, and mental health impacts of the pandemic, many United States (U.S.) college students experienced an abrupt transition to online learning in Spring 2020, resulting in a significant disruption to their learning and life. In this study, we examined COVID-19 impacts as reported by college students enrolled in an online class in Spring 2020 via an extra-credit survey. Participants reported predominantly negative impacts, but positive impacts were also reported. A total of 61 aspects of impact were identified reflecting six major themes: academic, housing and travel related, physical health-related, financial and work-related, social life, and mental health related impacts. We found that females reported significantly more overall negative impacts and significantly more academic and housing/travel related impacts than males. Black students reported significantly fewer positive impacts compared to non-Black students in the sample. Asian students reported significantly more academic impacts than White students. In addition, participants in the fully online degree program had significantly fewer overall impacts and significantly fewer academic impacts than those in the residential degree program. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Challenges relating to misuse and abuse of the internet and other mobile devices have become sources of concern among the youth population the world-over. However, research on cyber related issues has been focused mainly on adolescents in Nigeria. This study investigates the influence of cyber bullying, cyber victimization and pathological internet use on psychological well-being among adults. Using a cross sectional research design and a multi-stage sampling technique, 280 university students were selected. A questionnaire on socio-demographic profile cyber intimidation and internet addiction was administered to the participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test analysis at 0.05 level of significance. Three hypotheses were tested. The results revealed that participants who engage less in cyber bullying were not significantly different in their levels of psychological well-being when compared to their counterparts who engage more in cyber-bullying. Pathological Internet use did not significantly influence the levels of psychological well-being of cyber space addicts. The association between cyber related variables and psychological well-being is crucial for better understanding of their actual effects on human behaviour and for the purpose of designing intervention programmes.

Education in the modern era expects institutions to help students to thrive. Not only may class engagement improve academic performance, but it may also enhance students' well-being. This study investigated class engagement and its motivation and academic achievements’ effect on university students’ mental well-being. 231 university students, with a mean age of 21.46, participated in this study. About 65% were senior students, and average GPA was 3.46 (SD = 0.32). For measurements, General Class Engagement Scale, Motivations for Class Engagement Scale, and Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-being Short Form was employed. Academic achievement was measured by GPA. For data analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analyses were conducted. Results show that class engagement, its motivations, academic achievement, and mental well-being were all positively correlated. Moreover, class engagement and its motivations positively predicted mental well-being. However, GPA was non-significant. Hence, in a group of mostly senior university students, class engagement was more significant than academic achievement regarding their mental well-being. Furthermore, about 91% of this study’s participants were honor students (above 3 GPA). Therefore, being academically successful may not always be enough to be happy and well. However, educators may help students by emphasizing class engagement.