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Promoting flourishing among college students: The relationship between contextual stressors, loneliness and psychological distress.

Xiao Zhang, Abnous Shaverdi, Stephanie Benjamin, Christopher Rogers, Myriam Forster.

Background: There is mounting evidence that college students’ mental health is in crisis, with
many college students meeting criteria for at least one mental-health problem. Contextual
stressors (academics, career, finances, family, peers, and intimate relationships) and loneliness
can cause or worsen psychological distress (PD). Studies have found flourishing, defined as
individuals’ capability of experiencing positive emotions and functioning effectively in their
personal and social lives, could be a protective factor for PD. However, almost no research has
investigated a) the association between contextual stressors, loneliness and PD and b) whether
flourishing can minimize the PD linked to stress and loneliness among college students.

Methods: Data are survey responses (N=2,581) from a diverse sample of university students who
participated in the 2024 National College Health Assessment (NCHA) at a public university in
Southern California. Generalized linear models tested the hypothesized relationships between
stressors (past 12 months stress across academics, career, finances, family, peers, and intimate
relationships domains), loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale), and students’ PD (Kessler 6),
adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity and food security, and whether flourishing (Diener Flourishing
Score) moderated this relationship.

Results: On average students were 25 (SD=8.1) years old, most were female (70% female), 45% Hispanic, 17% White, 16% Asian, 15% Multiethnic, and 4% Black. The vast majority of participants (81%) reported contextual stressors and half (49%) screened positive for loneliness. Contextual stressors (ß=2.1 p<0.001, 95%CI=1.66, 2.55) and
loneliness (ß=2.7 p<0.001, 95%CI=2.30, 3.04) were associated with higher PD, while flourishing
(ß=-0.2 p<0.001, 95%CI=-0.245, -0.202) was inversely associated with PD. Importantly, high
levels of flourishing limited the negative effects of stressors and loneliness on PD (p<0.05).

Discussion: These findings underscore the high percentage of college students experiencing
contextual stressors, loneliness and PD. That flourishing can mitigate the effect of stressors and
loneliness on PD has important implication for prevention programming. Individual and system
level prevention approaches that encourage adaptive coping, compassionate self-care and peer-
to-peer bonding may be promising foci of support services to improve students’ mental health
and well-being.
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