The relationship of student-to-student confirmation in the classroom to college students’ mental health and well-being

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of student-to-student confirmation on college students’ self-reported mental health and well-being. It was proposed that confirming messages work to reduce indicators of mental illness (i.e., depression, stress, and anxiety), which in turn affect students’ mental health (i.e., psychological well-being). College students (N = 412) completed a survey questionnaire. Results of correlational and mediation analyses indicate that student-to-student confirmation is related to psychological well-being as well as indicators of mental illness (i.e., depression). Self-reported depression symptoms mediated the relationship between all three dimensions of student-to-student confirmation and psychological well-being. This study contributes to the growing conversation of college student mental health and its relation to the teaching-learning process, as well as contributing to the theoretical understanding of confirmation in the college classroom.

KEYWORDS:

• College students
• confirmation
• mental health
• psychological well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara LaBelle

Sara LaBelle (Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2014) is an associate professor in the School of Communication at Chapman University. Her research is focused on the intersection of instructional and health communication. Specifically, Sara has published on the teaching-learning process as it applies to the college classroom, the impact of student-to-student communication on academic and health outcomes, and the implementation and evaluation of health communication campaigns. She is the co-author of Strategic Communication for Organizations (University of California Press, 2020) and her work has been published in Communication Education, Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, Journal of Health Communication, and Substance Use & Misuse, among others. 

Zac D. Johnson

Zac D. Johnson (Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2013) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at California State University, Fullerton. His research is focused on the ways students interact with one another and with their educational environments. Zac has published on student-to-student confirmation, instructional dissent, and service learning programs. At California State University, Fullerton he also serves at the Basic Course Coordinator. His work can be found in Communication Education, Communication Quarterly, and Communication Research Reports among others.