The importance of belonging for well-being in college students

Abstract

College students are vulnerable to mental health challenges that include depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. We examined how subjective well-being in 369 college students in the United States was affected by the number friends or family members who could provide essential needs (instrumental support) or with whom intimate or personal matters could be discussed (emotional support), the frequency of engaging with others, satisfaction with these engagements, and the sense of belonging. Engagement satisfaction was affected by emotional support and engagement frequency. Instrumental support had no significant effect, but this could be an artifact of our sample. Emotional support affected belonging, which in turn affected well-being. These results highlight the central role of belonging in establishing and maintaining well-being. Some characteristics may act as well-being risk or protective factors, but these effects are small; all students may experience low levels of well-being. We recommend that institutions monitor the well-being of their students and require participation in curricular and co-curricular activities that are intentionally designed to promote belonging and well-being.