1. The Mental Health Status of Single-Parent Community College Students in California.
- Author
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Shenoy, Divya P., Lee, Christine, and Trieu, Sang Leng
- Subjects
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EDUCATION of single parents , *MENTAL health of college students , *COMMUNITY college students , *COMPETENCY assessment (Law) , *COMMUNITY colleges , *DEMOGRAPHY , *ETHNIC groups , *FAMILIES , *RACE , *WAGES , *WORK , *PROFESSIONAL associations , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *CHI-squared test , *DATA analysis , *SURVEYS , *SECONDARY analysis - Abstract
Single-parenting students face unique challenges that may adversely affect their mental health, which have not been explored in community college settings. Objective: The authors conducted secondary analysis of Spring 2013 data from the American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment to examine difficulties facing single-parent community college students and the association between single parenting and negative mental health (depression, self-injury, suicide attempt). Participants: Participants were 6,832 California community college students, of whom 309 were single parents. Methods: Demographic and mental health data were characterized using univariate descriptive analyses. Bivariate analyses determined whether single parents differed from other students regarding negative mental health or traumatic/difficult events. Results: Finances, family, and relationship difficulties disproportionally affected single parents, who reported nearly twice as many suicide attempts as their counterparts (5.3% vs 2.7%; p <.0001). Conclusions: Single-parenting students face a higher prevalence of mental health stressors than other community college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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