James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Dissertations, 2020-current The Graduate School 8-7-2020 A general education course designed to cultivate college student well-being Jessica Davis James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss202029 Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons, and the Counseling Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Davis, Jessica, "A general education course designed to cultivate college student well-being" (2020). Dissertations, 2020-current. 9. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss202029/9 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, 2020-current by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A General Education Course Designed to Cultivate College Student Well-being Jessica “Jay” C. Davis A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology Department of Graduate Psychology August 2020 FACULTY COMMITTEE: Committee Chair: Gregg Henriques, Ph.D. Committee Members/Readers: Jaime Kurtz, Ph.D. Kenneth Critchfield, Ph.D. Acknowledgements This project was realized thanks in part to many generous helpers. To my advisor and dissertation committee chair, Dr. Gregg Henriques. You were there from the very beginning. Your tireless efforts guided “my baby” from a fledgling idea to a real and hopeful product. More importantly, your mentorship and genuine care has shaped me into the psychological doctor I am today. I will miss our Sunday dissertation video chats. I also want to recognize Dr. Jaime Kurtz. Thank you for being my sherpa through the field of positive psychology and general education. I am so grateful for your guidance, professionally and personally, and think fondly of our time together. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr. Ken Critchfield. You have been a source of unwavering support since I entered the program and throughout this project. Thank you for your insight and kindness. Thank you to my cohort family: Carly Bobal, Connesia Handford, Gigi Larsen, and Ariel Marrero. Your friendship is priceless and was crucial to completing this project. I also want to recognize members of my Air Force family. I am especially grateful to Capt Natalie Roy for our many “dinner table data” sessions as well as my research assistants, SSgt Kaitlynn Adkins and SrA Zachery Wilde. I would like to also acknowledge my Harrisonburg friends. Your calls and silly messages helped to bolster my own well-being. Finally, I want to recognize my husband, Rick Davis. You have been my rock through this project and so much more. I would have not made it to the finish line without you. ii Table of Content List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. vi Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................ 1 Overview: Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 4 The College Mental Health Crisis ................................................................................................ 4 Trends on a National Scale .......................................................................................................... 9 Possible Causes to the College Mental Health Crisis ................................................................ 10 Explanation 1: There is No Crisis. ......................................................................................... 10 Explanation 2: The Perils of Safety-ism. ............................................................................... 11 Explanation 3: The Consequences of Technology and New Social Norms. .......................... 12 Explanation 4: Interplay of Broad Factors. ............................................................................ 15 Explanation Summary ............................................................................................................ 19 Initiatives to Address College Student Mental Health Crisis..................................................... 19 College Counseling Centers. .................................................................................................. 20 Lawmakers. ............................................................................................................................ 20 Well-being Education. ............................................................................................................ 20 Summary of Well-being Initiatives. ....................................................................................... 29 Henriques’ Unified Framework for Psychology and Psychotherapy ......................................... 29 Character Adaptation Systems Theory (CAST). .................................................................... 31 The Nested Model of Well-Being. .......................................................................................... 34 The Well-being Interview based on the Unified Framework. ................................................ 40 Well-being Education Course Grounded in the Unified Approach. ...................................... 42 Chapter Two: Methodology ........................................................................................................... 47 Project Overview and Rationale for the Course ......................................................................... 47 The Structure of the Psychology of Adjustment Course ............................................................ 50 Course Structure..................................................................................................................... 51 Course Lectures. .................................................................................................................... 51 Small Group Discussion. ....................................................................................................... 52 Course Assignments. .............................................................................................................. 52 Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 54 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 55 iii Recruitment Process and Participants. ................................................................................... 55 Assessment Measures. ........................................................................................................... 56 Administration of the Measures ............................................................................................. 61 Research Design..................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Three: Results ................................................................................................................... 64 Overview of Analyses ................................................................................................................ 64 Research Question 1 .................................................................................................................. 65 Course enrollment. ................................................................................................................. 65 Standard Course Evaluations. ................................................................................................ 65 Data Comparison. .................................................................................................................. 66 Engagement Screeners. .......................................................................................................... 68 Final grades. ........................................................................................................................... 70 Research Question 2a: Within the Intervention Group .............................................................. 70 Within Group Pre-Posttest Differences. ................................................................................. 71 Course Specific Course Evaluation – Quantitative. ............................................................... 73 Course Specific Course Evaluation – Qualitative. ................................................................. 74 Engagement Screener Feedback ............................................................................................ 80 Reflective Assignments. ........................................................................................................ 81 Research Question 2b: Differences Between the Intervention and Control Groups .................. 84 MANOVA – Group Differences ............................................................................................ 84 Pre-test Differences. 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