Depression is associated with biased interpretations and beliefs that are resistant to change. This kind of cognitive rigidity may depend on two distinct factors--a reduced ability for processing information that conflicts with these interpretations and beliefs and a reduced ability for generating alternative representations. Although depressive…

Objective: Student mental health may suffer due to unreasonable expectations associated with academic entitlement; permissive parenting may be one source of these expectations. The authors examined the role of academic entitlement as a mediator of the relationship between permissive parenting and psychological functioning. Participants:…

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of a positive psychology course on student well-being, depressive symptoms, and stress in a repeated measure, nonequivalent control design. As hypothesized, the positive psychology students reported higher overall happiness, life satisfaction, routes to happiness, and lower depressive…

Objective: College students may be at heightened risk for suicide and suicidal behavior due to maladaptive cognitive-emotional factors and failure to practice basic health behaviors. However, self-compassion and wellness behaviors may protect against risk. The relation between self-compassion and suicidal behavior and the contributing roles of…

Positive psychology is a useful framework to understand Mexican American college students' complete mental health. In the current study, we examined how presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, hope, mindfulness, and grit influenced 130 Mexican American college students' life satisfaction and depression. Within the first regression…

An underinvestigated and significant source of stress for U.S. student sojourners across racial/ethnic groups is exposure to stereotypes that target their American identity. This study built on the extensive research literature on stereotype threat to investigate U.S. students' vulnerability and reactions to being the target of stereotypes.…

University/college can be a challenging time as students face developmental tasks such as building new social networks and achieving academically. Social anxiety may be disadvantageous in this setting given that social situations often include drinking and individuals with social anxiety tend to self-medicate through alcohol use. However, findings…