Community belongingness during COVID-19 predicts anxiety and depression treatment change in college students.
Psychother Res
; : 1-12, 2022 May 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2271566
ABSTRACT
Objective Community belongingness has been shown to be related to mental health outcomes in college students; however, little work has evaluated whether community belongingness impacts treatment change, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when social isolation and mental health concerns are exacerbated. Accordingly, the current study evaluated community belongingness as a predictor of treatment change for anxiety and depression in a university counseling center. Method:
Participants included 516 young adults with clinical levels of anxiety or depression who attended at least two individual therapy sessions at a university counseling center during fall 2020. Participants completed broad measures of psychosocial functioning at each session.Results:
Paired-samples t-tests indicated that students demonstrated significant decreases in anxiety and depression after just one session. Linear stepwise regressions revealed that community belongingness was a significant predictor of symptom improvement for both anxiety and depression.Conclusion:
These results suggest improving community belongingness on college campuses may be a way to buffer mental health and improve treatment outcomes for students seeking psychological services. Specific clinical and educational recommendations for ways to improve community belongingness are discussed.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
Psychother Res
Journal subject:
Psychology
/
Psychiatry
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
10503307.2022.2071654
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS