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Imposter Phenomenon (IP) was coined in 1978 by Clance and Imes and has been an important construct in explaining individuals' experiences of believing that achievements are a result of luck or misperceptions of others rather than personal competence. The Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), developed in 1985, is a prominent operationalization of this construct. Although this scale has been widely used since its inception, its factor structure has been inconsistent across studies and no tests of measurement invariance are documented in the literature. Using a large university sample (n = 830), the current study was designed to: (a) examine the factor structure of the CIPS using cross validation, (b) examine measurement invariance across gender, and (c) examine differences in the CIPS factor by demographics. We found that a single factor structure for the CIPS was the best fitting model. We also found that the measure achieved invariance across gender after removing item 18 (and in the absence of items 1, 2, and 19, removed for poor fit). Finally, we found that being single, a woman, and having experienced lower socioeconomic status (SES) were all associated with higher IP. We discuss these findings in the context of a university setting and suggest avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals from Asian American (AA) and international Asian (IA) backgrounds are often lumped together in mental health research, which may obscure important differences in mental health presentation and need. While previous research has examined differences amongst AA and IA students seeking therapy at a single university counseling center, our study sought to better generalize these findings by utilizing a national data set to examine differences in treatment utilization, presenting concerns, overall distress, and improvement in treatment. Our results showed that IA students utilize therapy at lower rates than AA students. However, both groups attended appointments at roughly the same rate. Distress at intake was significantly higher for IA students across most domains measured. Finally, both groups improved in treatment at similar rates, with some differences observed between IA undergraduate and graduate students. We discuss implications for college counseling professionals and urge further research in this domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the press for services at university counseling centers increases, so does the need to provide optimal therapeutic services. Ethnic glossing in previous research has combined rather disaggregated the mental health treatment experiences of American Latinx (AL) students and International Latinx (IL) students. The purpose of this paper was to examine potential differences in (1) the number of attended sessions, (2) symptom severity, and (3) treatment improvement rates. We used a nationwide dataset including 13,156 AL students and 911 IL students. Results indicated that (1) there was no significant difference in attendance rates, (2) AL students had significantly worse initial symptom severity (d = 0.24), and (3) there were no significant differences in improvement rates. We discuss the importance of understanding the different clinical presentations of AL and IL students, as well as the importance of addressing ethnic glossing in future research and clinical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University students frequently face significant distress. With increasing rates of students accessing University Counseling Center (UCC) services, it is critical for UCCs to provide targeted prevention and intervention efforts. However, researchers have conducted minimal research regarding the relationship of students' declared majors and mental health. Using archival data, this study investigated differences between students in different majors concerning 1) rates of treatment utilization, 2) distress levels at the onset of treatment, and 3) rates of recovery while in treatment. A total of 21,514 participants were included. Results suggest significant differences by major in UCC utilization rates, distress levels at treatment onset, and recovery rates during treatment. While some previous studies have grouped "hard science" majors and "soft science" majors, we suggest that a more nuanced approach may help to better understand students' mental health needs. Implications for future research and recommendations for UCC intervention and prevention efforts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research finds that sexual minority university students experience considerable psychological and emotional distress. Furthermore, a recent study at Brigham Young University (BYU)-a university affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-found that suicidality prevalence and severity were twice as high among sexual minority students compared to their heterosexual peers. To better understand this finding, we interviewed ten sexual minority students at BYU who reported clinically significant current or previous suicidality. A coding team and auditors then analyzed and categorized the transcripts of these interviews using the Consensual Qualitative Research methodology. Five domains emerged related to suicidality among sexual minority students: deterrents from suicidal ideation and intent; contributors to suicidal ideation and intent; religious and spiritual experiences; experiences with BYU; and suggested improvements. We found patterns consistent with previous literature, including relational and belonging factors contributing to suicidality; we also found that certain doctrinal interpretations were related to increased suicidality. The primary improvement requested by participants was feeling better understood and accepted (rather than ignored or marginalized). We discuss study limitations (including small sample size and low generalizability,), future directions for research, and implications for religious university campuses.