The roles of resilience and belonging in mediating the association between positivity and anxiety among underrepresented college students

• Published in: Journal of American college health Vol. 70; no. 8; pp. 2311 - 2317
• Main Authors: Wright, Jaylen I., Whyne, Erum Z., Lehrer, H. Matthew, Woo, Jihun, Steinhardt, Mary A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 17.11.2022; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Age Differences; Anxiety; Belonging; College students; Correlation; Disability; Disproportionate Representation; Ethnicity; First Generation College Students; first-generation; Gender Differences; Measures (Individuals); Mental Health; Minority Group Students; Path Analysis; Positive Attitudes; Positive emotions; Race; Resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Student Attitudes; Student Characteristics; Student School Relationship; Students with Disabilities; Undergraduate Students; first-generation; positive emotions; resilience; mental health; Belonging
• ISSN: 0744-8481; 1940-3208
• DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1851235

Objective: Investigate the association of positivity with generalized anxiety and the mediating roles of resilience and sense of belonging in underrepresented college students. Participants: College students (N = 425; 18.4% White, 17.9% Black, 40.2% Hispanic, 20.2% Asian; 38.1% first-generation; M age = 19.06; 63.1% female) completed an online survey assessing positivity, anxiety, resilience, and belonging. Methods: Path analysis tested the proposed mediation model, controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, living status, and diagnosed disability. Results: Positivity was negatively associated with anxiety directly (ƅ = −.468, p < .001) and indirectly through resilience (ƅ = −.083, p < .001), but not through belonging (ƅ = −.026, p > .05). Positivity was associated with belonging (ƅ = .611, p < .001); belonging was not associated with anxiety (ƅ = −.042, p > .05). Conclusions: Findings highlight the benefit of positivity on anxiety and the mediating role of resilience among underrepresented college students.