Brown Joshua K, Papp Lauren M
Department of Psychology, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT 84721, USA.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Mar 22;22(4):472. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22040472.
College students' sense of belonging with their institution has been established as an important factor that improves their health and well-being. However, the extent to which students' sense of belonging changes over their college experience-if at all-needs further examination. The current study employs a longitudinal design utilizing data repeatedly collected from the same students ( = 355; male 33.0% and female 67.0%; White 83.2%; baseline age range: 18-21 years) to examine changes in their sense of belonging over time. We also examined the extent to which different participant characteristics (i.e., sex, race/ethnicity, first-generation student status, and affiliation with Greek life organizations) are associated with change in belonging over time. College students' belonging directly decreased over time, and race/ethnicity moderated this change such that being a student from a minoritized racial/ethnic group was associated with steeper drops in belonging. Educators and researchers are encouraged to further research this topic to determine how their classrooms, departments, and institutions can help foster students' belonging and maintain that belonging over time.
大学生对所在院校的归属感已被确认为改善其健康和幸福状况的重要因素。然而，学生的归属感在整个大学经历中（如果有变化的话）变化的程度，仍有待进一步研究。本研究采用纵向设计，利用从同一批学生（n = 355；男性占33.0%，女性占67.0%；白人占83.2%；基线年龄范围：18 - 21岁）反复收集的数据，来考察他们的归属感随时间的变化。我们还考察了不同参与者特征（即性别、种族/民族、第一代大学生身份以及与希腊生活组织的关系）在多大程度上与归属感随时间的变化相关。大学生的归属感随时间直接下降，且种族/民族对这种变化有调节作用，即来自少数族裔的学生归属感下降更为明显。鼓励教育工作者和研究人员进一步研究该主题，以确定他们的课堂、院系和院校如何能够帮助培养学生的归属感，并随着时间的推移维持这种归属感。
