ABSTRACT
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new measure of academic stressors (the ASM) in college students. Participants: The ASM was given to 677 undergraduate students at three universities along with measures of anxiety/depression, Big Five personality traits, and study skills. Methods: Tests of factorability and an exploratory factor analysis were completed. The internal and test-retest reliability of the measure was also evaluated. Results: The ASM is a concise, valid, and reliable tool for assessing college students' academic stressors. Conclusions: ASM scores predicted anxiety and depression symptoms. Therefore, the ASM can be used by colleges and university to assess students' levels of academic stressors to identify meaningful resources for support.
ABSTRACT
The current study found that African American residents of Oxford House (OH) used Narcotics Anonymous (NA) at high rates, and that both OH and NA strongly contributed to abstinent social networks. Having siblings and other family members in one's network predicted substance use among network members, whereas spouses, parents, and children did not have an effect on the rate of substance use. These findings suggest that OH and NA may be effective sources of abstinent social support for African Americans recovering from substance abuse. However, family members are well represented in the support networks of African Americans in OH.