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ABSTRACT
This case study of one university’s students and their support-seeking behaviors offers an initial explanation of what types of social support students sought during the pandemic and if their needs were met. This study fills a gap in the literature, as it addresses where students actually sought support during this time of crisis, and based on this analysis, we offer applications for how universities can be ready to support students even more effectively the next time an unexpected crisis occurs. Implications for institutional social support services at universities and more accessible opportunities for institutional support are discussed. As universities continue to evolve to meet holistic student needs during this stressful time, the evaluation of students’ access to support is discussed. Thus, this investigation bridges a divide between college students’ COVID-related stress and support services by measuring their support-seeking behaviors during the pandemic.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Alyssa M Lederer et al., “More Than Inconvenienced: The Unique Needs of U.S. College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Health Education & Behavior 48, no. 1 (2020): 14–19. doi:10.1177/1090198120969372.
2 “A timeline of COVID-19 developments in 2020,” AJMC (2021), https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020; “COVID-19 Pandemic Timeline Fast Facts,” CNN Health (2022), https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/health/covid-19-pandemic-timeline-fast-facts/index.html.
3 Esteban M Aucejo et al., “The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Experiences and Expectations: Evidence from a Survey,” Journal of Public Economics 191 (2020): 104271. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104271; “Here’s Our List of Colleges’ Reopening Models,” The Chronicle of Higher Education (2020), https://www.chronicle.com/article/heres-a-list-of-colleges-plans-for-reopening-in-the-fall/?cid=gen_sign_in.
4 Lederer, “More Than Inconvenienced,” 14–19; Anthony F Tasso, Nesrin Hisli Sahin and Gabrielle J San Roman. “COVID-19 Disruption on College Students: Academic and Socioemotional Implications,” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 13, no. 1 (2021): 9–15. doi:10.1037/tra0000996.
5 Lederer, “More Than Inconvenienced,” 14–19; Alexis A Adams-Clark and Jennifer J Freyd. “COVID-19-Related Institutional Betrayal Associated with Trauma Symptoms Among Undergraduate Students,” Plos One 16, no. 10 (2021). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0258294; Tasso, “COVID-19 Disruption on College Students,” 9–15.
6 Wei Zeng et al., “The Influence of Post-Traumatic Growth on College Students’ Creativity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of General Self-Efficacy and the Moderating Role of Deliberate Rumination,” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021): 665973. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.665973.
7 Martha Anne Kitzrow. “The Mental Health Needs of Today's College Students: Challenges and Recommendations,” NASPA Journal 41, no. 1 (2003): 167–81; Johanna Soet and Todd Sevig. “Mental Health Issues Facing a Diverse Sample of College Students: Results from the College Student Mental Health Survey,” NASPA Journal 43, no. 3 (2006): 410–31. doi:10.2202/1949-6605.1676.
8 Justin Hunt and Daniel Eisenberg. “Mental Health Problems and Help-Seeking Behavior Among College Students,” Journal of Adolescent Health 46, no. 1 (2010): 3–10.
9 Helen W. Bland et al., “Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Students,” College Student Journal 46 (2012): 362–75. doi:10.1037/t39417-000.
10 Cobb Sidney. “Social Support as a Moderator of Life Stress,” Psychosomatic Medicine 38, no. 5 (1976): 300–14.
11 Yacoub Khallad and Fares Jabr. “Effects of Perceived Social Support and Family Demands on College Students' Mental Well-Being: A Cross-Cultural Investigation,” International Journal of Psychology 51, no. 5 (2016): 348–55. doi:10.1002/ijop.12177; Melissa Johnstone et al., “Discrimination and Well-Being Amongst the Homeless: The Role of Multiple Group Membership,” Frontiers in Psychology 6, no. 739 (2015). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00739.
12 Merianos, Ashley L et al., “The Impact of Self-Esteem and Social Support on College Students’ Mental Health,” American Journal of Health Studies 28, no. 1 (2013): 27–34. doi:10.1080/00981389.2020.1772443.
13 Khallad, “Effects of Perceived Social Support,” 348–55.
14 Julal, F.S. “Predictors of Undergraduate Students’ University Support Service Use During the First Year of University,” British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 44, no. 4 (2015): 371–81. doi:10.1080/03069885.2015.1119232.
15 Ibid., 371–81.
16 Afifi, Walid A and Laura K. Guerrero. “Motivations Underlying Topic Avoidance in Close Relationships.” In Balancing the Secrets of Private Disclosures, ed. S. Petronio (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2000), 165–79; Irwin Altman. “Privacy Regulation: Culturally Universal or Culturally Specific?” Journal of Social Issues 3 (1977): 66–84; Caughlin, John P, and Petronio, Sandra. “Privacy in Families.” In Handbook of Family Communication, ed. A. L. Vangelisti (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2004), 379–412; Sidney Jourard. The transparent self (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1971); Sandra Petronio and Charles Bantz. “Research Note: Controlling the Ramifications of Disclosure: “Don’t Tell Anybody But … ”,” Journal of Language and Social Psychology 10 (1991): 263–69; Sandra Petronio. “The Boundaries of Privacy: Praxis of Everyday Life.” In Balancing the Secrets of Private Disclosures, ed. Sandra Petronio (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2000), 37–50; Sandra Petronio. Boundaries of Privacy: Dialectics of Disclosure (New York: State University of New York, 2002); Sandra Petronio and John P. Caughlin. “Communication Privacy Management Theory: Understanding Families.” In Engaging Theories in Family Communication: Multiple Perspectives, eds. Dawn O. Braithwaite and Leslie A. Baxter (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 35–49; Sandra Petronio and Wesley T. Durham. “Communication Privacy Management Theory: Significance for Interpersonal Communication.” In Engaging Theories in Interpersonal Communication: Multiple Perspectives, eds. Leslie A. Baxter and Dawn O. Braithwaite (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2008), 309–22; Sandra Petronio and Jennifer Reierson. “The Privacy of Confidentiality: Grasping the Complexities Through Communication Privacy Management Theory.” In Uncertainty and Information Regulation in Interpersonal Contexts: Theories and Applications, eds. Tamara Afifi and Walid Afifi (London, England: Routledge Publishing, 2008); Rosenfeld, Lawrence B. “Overview of the Ways Privacy, Secrecy, and Disclosure are Balanced in Today’s Society.” In Balancing the Secrets of Privacy Disclosures, ed. Sandra Petronio (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2000), 3–17; Anita L. Vangelisti and John P. Caughlin. “Revealing Family Secrets: The Influence of Topic, Function, and Relationships,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 14 (1997): 679–705; Anita Vangelisti, John Caughlin and Lindsay Timmerman. “Criteria for Revealing Family Secrets,” Communication Monographs 68 (2001): 1–27.
17 Petronio, Boundaries of Privacy.
18 Joshua R. Hammonds. “A Model of Privacy Control: Examining the Criteria that Predict Emerging Adults’ Likelihood to Reveal Private Information to Their Parents,” Western Journal of Communication 79, no. 5 (2015): 592.
19 Mary Claire Morr Serewicz. “Introducing the Special Issue on Communication Privacy Management Theory and Family Privacy Regulation,” Journal of Family Communication 13, no. 1 (2013), 2–5.
20 John P. Caughlin and Tamara D. Golish. “An Analysis of the Association Between Topic Avoidance and Dissatisfaction: Comparing Perceptual and Interpersonal Explanations,” Communication Monographs 69 (2002): 275–95.
21 Morgan C. Bridge and Paul Schrodt. “Privacy Orientations as a Function of Family Communication Patterns,” Communication Reports 26, no. 1 (2013): 1.
22 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett. “Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development from the Late Teens Through the Twenties,” American Psychologist 55 (2000): 469–80.
23 Sandra Petronio. “Communication Privacy Management Theory: What Do We Know About Family Privacy Regulation?” Journal of Family Theory & Review 2, no. 3 (2010): 175–96.
24 Skyler T Hawk et al., “Mind Your Own Business!: Longitudinal Relations Between Perceived Privacy Invasion and Adolescent-Parent Conflict,” Journal of Family Psychology 23 (2009): 511–20; Carrie D. Kennedy-Lightsey and Brandi N. Frisby. “Parental Privacy Invasion, Family Communication Patterns, and Perceived Ownership of Private Information,” Communication Reports 29, no. 2 (2016): 75.
25 Maxine G. Wintre et al., “The Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale: Development and Validation,” Journal of Youth Studies 12, no. 3 (2009): 289–306. doi:10.1080/13676260902775085.
26 Williams E. Snell Jr. et al., “Men's and Women's Emotional Disclosures: The Impact of Disclosure Recipient, Culture, and the Masculine Role,” Sex Roles 21 (1989): 467–86.
27 Wintre, “The Student Perception of University,” 289–306.
28 Ibid., 289–306.
29 Snell, “Men's and Women's Emotional Disclosures,” 467–86.
30 Ibid., 467–86.
31 Wintre, “The Student Perception of University,” 289–306.
32 Ibid., 294.
33 Snell, “Men's and Women's Emotional Disclosures,” 467–86.
34 Ibid., 467–86.
35 Wintre, “The Student Perception of University,” 289–306.
36 Snell, “Men's and Women's Emotional Disclosures,” 467–86.
37 Lederer, “More Than Inconvenienced,” 14–19; Adams-Clark, “COVID-19-Related Institutional Betrayal”; Tasso, “COVID-19 Disruption on College Students,” 9–15.
38 Zeng, “The Influence of Post-Traumatic Growth,” 665973.
39 Petronio, “The Boundaries of Privacy,” 37–50; Petronio, Boundaries of Privacy.