Student WellBeing

1. 2014 NASPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 17TH 2014
PENNY RUE, PHD, VICE-PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT LIFE
ANDY CHAN, VICE-PRESIDENT, PERSONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
ERANDA JAYAWICKREME, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGY
SARA DAHILL-BROWN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, POLITICS & INT’L AFFAIRS
Student Well-Being: What Do We
Measure?

2. Our Agenda
Well-being as a crucial outcome of education
◦ Mental health issues on college campuses
The challenge
◦ A model of student well-being
◦ Evidence-based AND actionable
Our model
◦ Six dimensions
Discussion
◦ Key question: do the dimensions capture a complete picture of student well-
being?

3. Well-Being: An Outcome of Education
Well-being should arguably be the ultimate outcome of education
(Layard)
◦ Well-being - peoples’ positive evaluations of their lives
◦ Why focus on well-being?
◦ How is well-being achieved– and what is our role?

4. The challenge: what is student well-being?
Well-being is multi-dimensional
◦ Multiple models (Jayawickreme, Forgeard & Seligman, 2012; Swarbrick, 2010)
Student assessments relevant to well-being do already exist
◦ Good start, but need to go further
No comprehensive student well-being model
◦ Sensitive to specific development status of young adults
◦ Challenge of quantifying the “value” of college

5. Swarbrick’s (2010) wellness domains

6. Well-Being Mediators: Skills,
Habits, Behaviors, Attitudes,
Beliefs, Expectations, and
Resources
Well-being Outcomes
Pre-College Inputs
Family, School, and
Community
College Environment
Admissions & Recruiting
First Year Experience
Academic Experience
Social Climate
Personal and Professional Development
Post-Graduate Connections

7. A model of student well-being
Goal of current project
◦ Develop a dynamic, multi-dimensional, deep longitudinal assessment of WFU students’ and
alumni holistic development and wellbeing.
◦ Identify an exhaustive list of dimensions that capture student well-being
Two criteria for selecting well-being dimensions
◦ Dimensions should have a substantive empirical base of research supporting its successful
assessment and utility
◦ Dimensions should be actionable– i.e. colleges should ideally be able to effect changes on
students’ standing on these dimensions

8. Our proposed model
Student Well-Being
Emotional Well-
Being
Subjective Well-
Being
Meaning/Purpose
Relational Well-
Being
Belongingness
Commitment to
Others
Intellectual Well-
Being
Grit/Perseverance
Physical Well-Being
Physical Vitality

9. Subjective Well-Being (SWB)
Subjective reports of positive emotions and life-satisfaction, and assess how
people feel and think about their quality of life.
Sample items:
◦ “In most ways my life is close to my ideal”
◦ “I am satisfied with my life”
◦ “I feel negative most of the time”
◦ “I am satisfied with my college life”
Emotional Wellbeing

10. Meaning/ Purpose
More intimately connected with eudaimonia (well-being derived not from
pursuing momentary desires but those experiences that promote growth and
wellness) (Ryan & Deci, 2001).
Purpose in Life is defined as “having beliefs that give the individual the feeling
that there is purpose in and meaning to life” (Ryff, 1989).
Sample items:
◦ “I am optimistic about my future”
◦ “I know what gives meaning to my life”
◦ “My life has a clear sense of purpose”
◦ “I am engaged and interested in my daily activities”
Emotional Wellbeing

11. Belongingness
Multi-dimensional construct
◦ Sensitive to factors such as social identity and social environment
◦ Significant predictor of important outcomes, including academic achievement and health outcomes
(e.g. Cohen, 2014).
◦ Can be operationalized to measure sense of belonging in academic and social settings.
Sample Items
◦ Social Support
◦ “There are people who give me support and encouragement“
◦ “I often feel left out”
◦ School Belongingness
◦ “I feel a sense of belonging in my school”
◦ “I feel that I belong in the ______ classroom” Relational Wellbeing

12. Commitment to Others
Importance of good citizenship
People with universalist values are high in dispositional empathy, moral
reasoning, moral identity and universalist values (McFarland. Webb & Brown,
2013).
Sample items:
◦ “I am a good person and live a good life”
◦ “I want to be a responsible citizen of the world”
◦ “The things I do contribute to my community”
Relational Wellbeing

13. Grit/ Perseverance
Perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews & Kelly, 2007).
◦ Interest in developing interventions to promote and increase this trait
◦ Grit may be hard to shift, but possible movement on domain-specific questions
Sample items
◦ Grit
◦ “Setbacks do not discourage me”
◦ “I finish whatever I started”
◦ Academic Grit
◦ I know what to do to be successful when confronted with difficult academic tasks.
◦ I focus on the academic strengths I have rather than try to work on my weaknesses.
Intellectual Wellbeing

14. Physical Vitality
Importance of recognizing link between physical health and well-being
Sample items:
◦ “In general, how would you say your health is?”
◦ “How many times do you exercise per week?”
◦ “How many hours of sleep do you typically get each night?”
Physical Wellbeing

15. Our proposed model compared with Swarbrink’s
Higher-Order Dimensions
(Swabrick Dimensions Listed in Italics)
• Emotional Well-Being
• Mental, Spiritual
• Relational Well-Being
• Social, Environmental, Ethical
• Intellectual Well-Being
• Occupational, Financial
• Physical Well-Being
• Physical
Dimensions to Measure
• Emotional Well-Being
• Subjective Well-Being (Life Satisfaction, Domain
Satisfaction, Affect Balance)
• Meaning/ Purpose (including career and vocation-
specific beliefs)
• Relational Well-Being
• Belongingness (social, academic)
• Commitment to Others
• Intellectual Well-Being
• Grit/ Perseverance
• Physical Well-Being
• Physical Vitality

16. Breakout Session
Key Questions:
◦ Do these dimensions resonate with your understanding of student growth and development?
◦ How does the way in which we ask about well-being differ in the post-college environment?
◦ What dimensions would you add to this list?
◦ Would this measurement strategy be helpful to you in your professional practice?
◦ Are there people in your institution who could contribute to this conversation?

17. Bibliography
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Hurtado, S., & Carter, D.F. (1997). “Effects of College Transition and Perceptions of the Campus Racial Climate on Latino College Students’
Sense of Belonging.” Sociology of Education 70 (4) (October 1): 324–345.
Jayawickreme, E., Forgeard, M. J. C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2012). The Engine of Well-Being. Review of General Psychology, 16 (4), 327-342.
Keyes, C. L. M. 2007. “Promoting and Protecting Mental Health as Flourishing: A Complementary Strategy for Improving National Mental
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McFarland, S., Brown, D. & Webb, M. (2013). Identification With All Humanity as a Moral Concept and Psychological Construct. Current
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Pryor, J. H. (2013). Using CIRP Surveys at Wake Forest University: Informing The Wellbeing Initiative, Professional development
presentation at Wake Forest University, August 23, 2013.