Book Description

Abstract: The transition to college freshman year is probably the most difficult phase of adjustment during college life. Many freshmen experience feelings of loneliness and isolation and interpersonal conflicts while facing new social and academic challenges. Twenty percent of students begin having difficulty within the first six weeks of school and drop out early in their first year (Mallinckrodt & Sedlacek, 1987). Most students leave school due to stress associated with social and personal issues (Bradburn, 2003). As the number of students attending college has increased, the types of support needed have changed. Consequently, current students require different kinds of social and personal support than was previously thought. This longitudinal study expands on previous research by considering social support and personality variables as predictors of two types of college adjustment (student-reported adjustment and adjustment as measured by first semester GPA), and is the first to look at three time periods during the first semester freshman year. Questionnaires regarding social support, personality and adjustment were completed by 211 first-semester freshman. Repeated-measures ANOVA found that students tended to be lonelier during the first two weeks of the semester, but there were no differences in the size of, or satisfaction with, social networks; or in mean levels of personality across time. No gender differences or interactions of gender and time were identified. Multiple regression analyses found that depression, self-worth and satisfaction with students' social network predicted student-reported adjustment to college. Students with lower levels of depression, higher self-worth and high satisfaction with social networks reported better overall adjustment to college. In contrast, only extraversion predicted GPA. Students with high extraversion received lower GPA first semester freshman year. This study extends existing research by identifying that the variables predicting student-reported adjustment are not identical to those predicting first semester GPA. Additionally, data support the novel finding that students' satisfaction with their social network late in the semester was associated with student-reported adjustment to college. This information will direct educators towards developing time-specific intervention programs that target students' individual needs, and ultimately generate better outcomes such as greater satisfaction with university life and higher retention rates.