The Impact of Individual, Interpersonal, and Institutional Factors on Latina/o College Students’ Life Satisfaction

Abstract

This manuscript investigated the contributions of individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors on Latina/o college students’ life satisfaction. Participants included 130 Latina/o students enrolled at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Results indicated that search for meaning in life, mentoring, and family support were significant predictors of life satisfaction. Researchers provide implications for counselors and psychologists.

Predictors of Academic Stress Among College Students

“…One of the most important factors in college students' academic and mental health outcomes involves life satisfaction given its relationship to happiness, psychological well‐being, and meaning in life (Segrin & Taylor, ; Vela et al, ). Life satisfaction refers to perceptions of quality of life as well as positive and negative affect (Diener, Luca, & Oishi, ).…”

Supporting the well-being of student veterans and service members: Contextual factors and self-determination

“…Perceived competence had a particularly strong direct relation with academic well-being (β = .55, p < .001), and its direct relation with global well-being was also significant (β = .26, p < .01). These findings are consistent with prior college student samples in which perceived competence was repeatedly found to significantly predict various indicators of both academic well-being (e.g., Garriott et al, 2015;Lent et al, 2005;Murray et al, 2014) and global well-being (e.g., Renshaw & Bolognino, 2016;Sheu et al, 2017;Vela et al, 2016). They also corroborate significant relations between perceived competence and academic well-being in military students (Artino, 2008), as well as between perceived competence and global well-being in a recent veteran sample (Seligowski et al, 2012).…”

“…Relation to well-being. Seven studies were located that examined the relation between perceived academic competence in college students and life satisfaction, which is the global well-being indicator that was used in the present study (Coffman & Gilligan, 2002;Garriott et al, 2015;Ojeda, Flores, & Navarro, 2011;O'Sullivan, 2011;Renshaw & Bolognino, 2016;Sheu et al, 2017;Vela et al, 2016). The relation was statistically significant in all of the studies, with correlations ranging from .21 to .44 (ps < .05).…”

“…It found a moderate correlation (r = .47, p < .001). Seven studies were located that examined the relation between perceived academic competence and academic satisfaction in the general college student population (Garriott et al, 2015;Lent et al, 2005;Murray et al, 2014;Ojeda et al, 2011;Renshaw & Bolognino, 2016;Sheu et al, 2017;Vela et al, 2016). The relation was statistically significant in all of the studies, with correlations ranging from .39 to .56 (ps < .05).…”

Understanding the Impact of Chicana Feminism on College Success: A Literature Review

“…The Latina student population is also often absent from higher education research, even with data to support the need for further knowledge and understanding of this population (González, Stoner, & Jovel, 2003; Rodriguez et al, 2000). Besides being one of the largest and fastest growing populations among the Hispanic/Latinx groups, Mexican American women (Chicanas) in particular have the lowest education attainment rates (Graff, McCain, & Gomez-Vilchis, 2013; Kena et al, 2015; Vela et al, 2016; Vera & de los Santos, 2005).…”