Introduction
Today, the promotion of high-level academic performance is one of the common goals in many American colleges and universities. A number of personal factors, as well as the social environment, determine student success and cooperation (Kassarnig et al., 2018). However, despite the intention to provide students with the best options in their studies and the choice of future careers, certain challenges and concerns exist. Mental health problems are frequently diagnosed among college students, and about 1/4 of current students have depression or anxiety (Posselt & Lipson, 2016).
Among a variety of causes, prejudicial treatment and discrimination play a critical role because these behavioral attitudes lead to academic distress and interpersonal conflicts (Cheng, McDermott, Wong, & McCullough, 2019). To predict academic complications, the main research question “Is there the association between discrimination/prejudice and depression/anxiety among US college students?” should be answered. The hypothesis is that there is a certain association between social behaviors and mental health problems among the chosen group of people. The goal of this study is to investigate the peculiarities of prejudicial and discriminatory treatment among students and explain their correlation with anxiety and depression.
Literature Review
Modern researchers frequently discuss the concepts of discrimination and prejudice among college students and develop their own theories and policies to clarify the situation. In addition to new circumstances, responsibilities, and tasks, students have to meet unknown people and use their qualities and skills in different areas without necessary support and cooperation (Ruz, Al-Akash, & Jarrah, 2018).
Due to such external and internal factors, many students, either experienced or fresh, have high depression and anxiety rates (Jochman et al., 2019). Certain attention is paid to depression and anxiety caused by uncontrolled or poorly organized relationships between young people. In their study, Cheng et al. (2019) underlined that perceived discrimination is related to academic distress and used the experiences of Latinx college students for analysis. As a result, young people demonstrate poor academic achievement, lack of collaboration, and dissatisfaction with college activities.
Social Behaviors in Colleges
The establishment of trustful relationships plays a crucial role in education. When students visit their classroom, they expect to gain new knowledge and demonstrate what they have already learned or what they need to improve at the moment (Jochman et al., 2019).
The development of social class stereotypes cannot be ignored because it promotes inequalities among students, their achievements, desire to participate in classroom discussions, and the quality of content chosen by teachers (Durante & Fiske, 2017). When young people start comparing their financial or social opportunities, identify their roots, and compare ethnic differences, they provoke new reasons for discussions and conflicts. On the one hand, negative outcomes of social behaviors like the lack of competency or increased objectivity contribute to new debates based on discrimination and prejudice (Durante & Fiske, 2017; Cheng et al., 2019).
On the other hand, the recognition of inequality in social behaviors during college education provides teachers and students with an opportunity to solve associated problems in classrooms (Durante & Fiske, 2017). The creation of behavioral norms, standards, and rules could control discrimination, but its impact on mental health continues growing.
Mental Health of Students
There are many risk factors for college students to be developed due to social concerns and unequal relationships. Depression and anxiety influence students’ abilities and academic achievements by reducing their attention and desire to study (Posselt & Lipson, 2016). Interpersonal social events that are based on discrimination and prejudice predict anger, loneliness, and despair, which lead to the development of severe mental health problems (Jochman et al., 2019).
Depression and anxiety are not always easy to diagnose among students because they do not pay much attention to their well-being and behavioral changes. As a rule, young people associate their concerns with new obligations and the necessity to live and behave under new requirements (Kassarnig et al., 2018). As no assessment and professional help are offered, depression and anxiety symptoms remain untreated and get worse with time. The sources of depression, like unfair treatment or prejudiced attitudes, cannot be eliminated, and the disease is poorly treated (Posselt & Lipson, 2016). Anxious students contribute to their negative relationships with peers and become unable to find alternatives and mutually effective solutions.
The association between mental health and social behaviors of students turns out to be an evident issue for discussion. However, past studies include the analysis of particular groups of people, focusing on ethnical disparities or other demographic factors (Cheng et al., 2019; Jochman et al., 2019; Posselt & Lipson, 2016). To find out the proportions between depression/anxiety and discrimination/prejudice is an important step to create a foundation for further projects about classroom improvements, high academic performance, the distribution of roles, and cooperation among young people in colleges.
Methods
The success of this study depends on a variety of factors, and the choice of the research design, participants, and analysis techniques should be made. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are effective for analyzing mental health problems in a particular group of people, and Newman (2016) recommends survey studies to understand human attitudes. The researcher must discuss all the details with potential participants and plan data collection and analysis procedures to predict potential outcomes.
Design
In this study, a survey research design is the chosen quantitative research method. Being the representative of a non-experimental group, this design helps to collect personal opinions of participants and develop self-reports, focusing on applied attitudes and behaviors. Survey questions will help to clarify how discrimination or prejudice in student behaviors contributes to the progress of the depressive mood or anxiety.
Ordinal scales have to be applied to gather the required number of numeric scores to prove the diagnosis of the chosen mental health disorders (Newman, 2016). Self-reports developed via personal interviews will focus on students’ attitudes towards each other, as well as inequality factors present in the classroom. The content of the survey will depend on the number of participants and the deadline set in this project to have enough time for data collection and analysis.
Participants
It is expected to invite about 200 students from the same local college to participate in this study. In addition to the requirement to be a college student, participants must meet another inclusive criterion like speaking and understanding English well. Due to the nature of the study and the chosen research design, participation is voluntary, and students are free to withdraw anytime they find convenient (Newman, 2016).
Therefore, the research should understand that the final sample size could be smaller than it is planned (some students may demonstrate their unwillingness to participate in the study for different reasons). The year of education does not matter because the goal is to understand the behaviors of college students without any specification (course, duration, and other demographic factors). Still, the desired outcome is to gather male and female students from different courses and with various ethnic roots.
Procedure/Measures
After choosing the student population for analysis and inviting them to the study, informed consent should be obtained from each participant. A college principal has to permit the researcher to carry out the research within the frames of the chosen facility. These two steps prove that all decisions and actions are voluntary (Newman, 2016). Then, the survey will be created in the form of a questionnaire to gather some demographic data about participants and their living experiences, as well as to introduce the purposes of the study.
A psychological questionnaire will be designed by the researcher and include ten questions about students’ feelings. A depression/anxiety scale test will be developed on the basis of the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. All the questions will be sent to every participant via e-mail with clearly defined deadlines and requirements. In case of additional questions, students have the researcher’s contact information.
Data Analysis
To investigate the association between prejudice/discrimination in classrooms and depression/anxiety, a relevant statistical method in the SPSS program will be used. The chosen variables (independent – prejudice and discrimination; dependent, binary- depression and anxiety) will have specific scores. A correlation matrix will be developed in SPSS to identify the correlation coefficient between the chosen variable and proving the hypothesis about the association between the social behaviors of students and their mental health. A two-level random intercept model could be offered to assess interpersonal relationships the way Jochman et al. (2019) did. This analytical strategy will help to identify the effects discrimination and prejudice have on students.
Ethical Issues
As it has already been mentioned, the participation in this study has to be voluntary, with a possibility of withdrawing from it as per the student’s request without any explanations or fines. Student performance and relationships will be evaluated within the frames of this non-experimental survey study only if a mutual agreement between the participants, the researcher, and the principal is achieved. The major document to identify the rights of the study participants is informed consent (Newman, 2016). It explains the basics of confidentiality and anonymity and protects students against additional discussions and unethical treatments. Instead of true names, ID numbers will be applied to every participant. No additional payments or funding are expected, so no conflict of interest should be reported either by the researchers or participants.
Conclusion
In modern colleges, students are exposed to a variety of external and internal factors that determine their relationships and academic performance. Instead of being supported by educators and experts in their classrooms, students could face certain psychological problems, which results in the development of mental health disorders. It is necessary to identify the correlation between social behaviors demonstrated by students and mental health changes.
Students report about their relationships and behaviors within a particular context. Depression and anxiety should not obviously be the outcomes of discrimination and prejudice. The hypothesis is developed to prove the worth of a survey research design and an analytical strategy based on the SPSS software program. The expected results are to be crucial for the study as they prove the relationship between the variables and the necessity to develop new interventions for students.
References
Cheng, H. L., McDermott, R. C., Wong, Y. J., & McCullough, K. M. (2019). Perceived discrimination and academic distress among Latinx college students: A cross-lagged longitudinal investigation. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Web.
Durante, F., & Fiske, S. T. (2017). How social-class stereotypes maintain inequality. Current Opinion in Psychology, 18, 43-48. Web.
Jochman, J. C., Cheadle, J. E., Goosby, B. J., Tomaso, C., Kozikowski, C., & Nelson, T. (2019). Mental health outcomes of discrimination among college students on a predominately white campus: A prospective study. Socius, 5, 1-16. Web.
Kassarnig, V., Mones, E., Bjerre-Nielsen, A., Sapiezynski, P., Lassen, D. D., & Lehmann, S. (2018). Academic performance and behavioral patterns. EPJ Data Science, 7(1). Web.
Newman, M. (2016). Research methods in psychology (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
Posselt, J. R., & Lipson, S. K. (2016). Competition, anxiety, and depression in the college classroom: Variations by student identity and field of study. Journal of College Student Development, 57(8), 973-989.
Ruz, M. E. A., Al-Akash, H. Y., & Jarrah, S. (2018). Persistent (anxiety and depression) affected academic achievement and absenteeism in nursing students. The Open Nursing Journal, 12, 171-179.