Social determinants of mental health: the roles of traumatic events, financial strain, housing instability, food insecurity, and commute time.

OBJECTIVE: To identify social determinants of mental health embedded within college students' living and learning conditions. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included 215 mostly undergraduate (95%) business students at a diverse, urban west coast public university (48% women; mean age 24). METHODS: Participants completed an online self-report survey measuring affective state, global mental health, anxious and depressive symptoms, as well as social determinants of mental health. Data were analyzed using multiple regression controlling for self-esteem, gender, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Results suggest that higher family income is positively related to mental health, whereas more adverse events (e.g., assault, robbery, serious illness or injury), food insecurity, and commute time are negatively related to mental health. Moderation results indicate a moderate buffering effect of belonging on global mental health among students who experience zero adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Social determinants can shed light on student's precarious living and learning conditions and resultant effects on students' mental health.

In Pursuit: Mastering Leadership Through Leader Developmental Readiness.

This chapter defines leader developmental readiness, presents a conceptual model, and discusses implications for practitioners supporting leaders before college, during college, and in early career stages.

Fit to Serve? Exploring Mental and Physical Health and Well-Being Among Transgender Active-Duty Service Members and Veterans in the U.S. Military.

Purpose: Although transgender people are currently excluded from enlistment and discharged from service based on medical and psychological fitness policies, the current mental and physical health of transgender active-duty U.S. military personnel and veterans is poorly understood. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the military histories, lifetime mental and physical health diagnoses, and transgender transition-related health of transgender active-duty service members (ADSM) and veterans. Methods: Participants were recruited through private LGBT military and veteran organizational listservs, snowball sampling, and in-person recruitment to complete an anonymous and confidential self-administered online questionnaire. Results: A total of 106 transgender ADSM (n=55) and veterans (n=51) completed the questionnaire. Transgender veterans were significantly older (44 mean years vs. 29.5 mean years, t=-6.23, p<0.001). A greater percentage of veterans than ADSM reported depression (64.6% vs. 30.9%, χ2=11.68, p=0.001) and anxiety (41.3% vs. 18.2%, χ2=6.54, p=0.011). In addition, 15.9% of veterans versus 1.8% of ADSM (χ2=6.53, p=0.011) had been diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder. There were no significant differences in lifetime physical health conditions; however, veterans reported a higher body-mass index than ADSM (28.4 vs. 24.9, t=-3.85, p<0.001). For both groups, mental and physical health problems were positively correlated with age and years of military service (r=0.37-0.84, p<0.01). There were no significant differences between groups in transgender transition-related health. Conclusion: Our data represent the first descriptive statistics of lifetime mental and physical health issues among transgender ADSM and veterans. Data indicate that transgender ADSM report fewer lifetime mental and physical health problems than transgender veterans. Taken together, our findings suggest that more research, specifically among transgender ADSM, is needed to challenge the exclusion of transgender persons from U.S. military service based on the presumption of poor mental or physical health.