The Influences of Gospel Activity on College Students’ Psychological Well-being.

The Influences of Gospel Activity on College Students’ Psychological Well-being<br><br>*Pi-Ming Yeh, RN, Ph.D., Associate Professor<br>College of Nursing, East Tennessee University<br>Address: 1301 Seminole Dr., Apt 30B, Johnson City, Tennessee 37604, USA<br>Cell phone: (309)750-2927<br>E-mail: [email protected]<br><br>Cheng-Huei Chiao, Ph.D., Professor<br>Craig School of Business, Missouri Western University<br>Address: 3201 N. 34^th Terrace, Saint Joseph, MO 64506, USA<br>Cell phone: (309)750-2903<br>Email: [email protected]<br><br><br><b>Introduction/Significance</b><b>: </b>The prevalence of U.S. college students’ anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation is increasing (Casey et al., 2022; Welding, 2023). Lipson et al. (2019) indicated that 26.9% of college students had depression and 8.2% had suicidal ideation. Spiritual well-being has a significantly reverse relationship with anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation and a positive relationship with psychological well-being (Yeh & Waters, 2021).<br><b> </b><br><b>Purpose: </b>The<b> </b>purpose<b> </b>of this study was to examine the influences of the Gospel Group Activities on college students’ psychological well-being.<br><br><b>Methods:</b> This was a cross-sectional comparison research design. Seventy-four college students were recruited at the college ministry of Eastern Tennessee, USA. They received the Gospel Group Activity (GGA) every Tuesday from 7 pm to 8 pm, every semester. Another group (a total of 481) of college students who did not receive this Gospel Group Activity were recruited from a Midwest University, Missouri. The IRB was approved. Questionnaires were used to collect data. SPSS 28.0 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive data analysis, t-tests, and Chi-square tests were used to examine the research questions. Psychological Well-Being Scale, Coping Strategies, and Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scale were used to collect the data.<br><br><b>Results:</b><br>There was a significant age difference. College students with GGA, whose mean age (<i>M </i>= 20, <i>SD</i> = 1.64) was younger than college students without GGA (<i>M</i> = 24.64, <i>SD</i> = 6.34) (<i>t</i> = -13.41, <i>p</i> < 0.001). College students without GGA had significantly higher psychological well-being scores (<i>M</i> = 88.91, <i>SD</i> = 9.0) than college students with GGA (<i>M</i> = 82.51, <i>SD</i> = 11.63) (<i>t </i>= -4.53, <i>p</i> = 0.001). College students with GGA had higher spiritual well-being scores (<i>M</i> = 107.14, <i>SD</i> = 11.84) than college students without GGA (<i>M</i> = 105.54, <i>SD</i> = 12.18), but there was no significant difference. College students with GGA had higher scores than college students without GGA in using coping strategies (1) Emotion-Focused Engagement and (2) Emotion-Focused Disengagement. About their parents’ rearing attitude, college students without GGA had higher scores in (1) Communication, (2) Positive Reinforcement, (3) Involvement, and lower scores in Harsh Discipline than college students with GGA.<br><br><b>Discussion:</b><br>In this study, college students with GGA did not show higher scores of psychological well-being than college students without GGA. The possible reasons are (1) this is not a randomized controlled trial, so the sample is not a random selection and assignment. (2) College students with GGA had higher scores in using Emotional Coping Strategies. (3) College students without GGA had more positive parenting rearing styles.<br><b>Conclusions:</b><br>Participants’ age, coping strategies, and their parents’ rearing attitudes might influence their psychological well-being. Gospel activity is not the only one related to psychological well-being.<br><br><b>Keywords</b>: Gospel Group Activity, Psychological Well-being, Coping Strategies, College students, Parenting.<br><b> </b><br><b>References</b>:<br>Casey, S. M., Varela, A., Marriott, J. P., Coleman, C. M., & Harlow, B. L. (2022). The influence of diagnosed mental health conditions and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety on suicide ideation, plan, and attempt among college students: Findings from the Healthy Minds Study, 2018-2019. <i>Journal of Affective Disorders</i>, <i>298</i>(Pt A), 464–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.006<br>Lipson, S. K., Lattie, E. G., & Eisenberg, D. (2019). Increased rates of mental health service utilization by US college students: 10-year population-level trends (2007–2017). <i>Psychiatric Services</i>, <i>70</i>(1), 60–63. https://doi-org.ezproxy.missouriwestern.edu/10.1176/appi.ps.201800332<br>Melby, J., Conger, R., Book, R., Rueter, M., Lucy, L., Repinski, D., Rogers, S., Rogers, B., & Scaramella, L. (1998). <i>The Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales.</i> Institute for Social and Behavior Research, Iowa University.<br>Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being.<i> Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,</i> <i>57</i>(6), 1069-1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069<br>Welding, L. (2023). Suicide at Colleges: Rates, Research, and Statistics. BestColleges.com.<br>https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/suicide-in-colleges-rates-research-statistics/<br>Yeh, P. M. & Waters, G. (2021). Path Analysis testing the Development of Personality and Psychological Well-being Model. <i>Western Journal of Nursing Research, 43</i>(1), 23-35.<br>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0193945920932559