Abstract
Changes in depressive symptoms in response to the experience of a first high-impact stressor (i.e., a stressor rated as both very upsetting and very disruptive) in college were examined as an indicator of student resilience. Participants were 953 college undergraduates from four institutions participating in a larger longitudinal study of student resilience and well-being; 703 of these students reported experiencing at least one high-impact stressor during their time in college. Using piecewise growth modeling analyses with timepoints (n = 8) nested within individuals (n = 703), findings showed that, on average, students reported increased depressive symptoms when experiencing a “high-impact” stressor and showed a pattern of recovery over time, whereby depressive symptoms decreased gradually following the stressor. Self-compassion moderated the effect of experiencing a high-impact stressor such that students higher in self-compassion showed a muted pattern of stress response and recovery. Experiencing subsequent high-impact stressors was associated with increased depressive symptoms and slower recovery. Indicators of availability and quality of social support were negatively associated with depressive symptoms but did not moderate stress response or recovery. Previous exposure to stress and self-reported resilience predicted neither level of depressive symptoms nor stress response or recovery. Implications for efforts to promote community well-being in higher education are discussed.
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Notes
103 participants were under 18 at the time of the first baseline data collection. Consistent with federal guidelines [45 Code of Federal Regulations 46.116(d)], a waiver of written parental consent procedure was approved by each institution’s IRB. Parents were sent a hard copy letter and e-mail message from the school describing the project and were given the opportunity to ask questions of the researchers. Parents could choose to not have their student participate in the project by e-mailing or calling the researchers. Students also provided assent before participating. Students who were under 18 at the time of the first panel data collection (n = 52) were not eligible to enroll in the panel.
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Acknowledgements
In addition to members of the SRWBP Research Group, research staff (in alphabetical order, Jeremy Chaikind, Victoria Guinn, Ashley Hufnagle, Frances Lobo, Sejal Lyons, Linas Mitchell, Qinhua Sun, and Andrew Zeveney), and student life colleagues at Davidson College, Duke University, Furman University, and Johnson C. Smith University contributed to the research. The authors thank Madeline Carrig for her expert statistical consultation.
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This study was funded by The Duke Endowment (grant number DE-13-EDU-MS-01-SP).
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An earlier version of this study was presented at the 2019 meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, in Washington, DC.
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Weeks, M.S., Zeveney, A.S. & the Student Resilience and Well-Being Project Research Group. Changes in Depressive Symptoms in Response to a Significant Stressor in College. Int. Journal of Com. WB 4, 525–547 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42413-021-00129-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42413-021-00129-3