This study investigated the effect of anti-mattering perceptions on social health levels among university students in Turkey. A total of 494 university students, including 311 domestic and 183 immigrants from Syria, participated in the study. Anti-mattering and social health scales were used to collect data. The LIFESCREEN for College Students (TLS-C) is an 18-item scale that measures the social health needs of college students, the measure is guided by the five key areas of social determinants of health (SDOH) and asks questions related to topics such as safety and food security. Descriptive, difference, correlation, and regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. The findings showed that anti-mattering perceptions had a significant impact on social health levels. Additionally, the immigrants and economically disadvantaged students had higher social health needs and behaviors. The study concluded that anti-mattering perceptions, which are shaped during childhood and adolescence, are an influential factor on social health behaviors and needs of university students.
AzmitiaM.SyedM.RadmacherK. (2013). Finding your niche: Identity and emotional support in emerging adults’ adjustment to the transition to college. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23(4), 744–761. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12037
2.
BhagchandaniR. K. (2017). Effect of loneliness on the psychological well-being of college students. International Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 7(1), 60–64. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijssh.2017.v7.796
3.
BravemanP.GottliebL. (2014). The social determinants of health: It’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(Suppl 2), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549141291S206
4.
ClarkT. T.YangC.McClernonF. J.FuemmelerB. F. (2015). Racial differences in parenting style typologies and heavy episodic drinking trajectories. Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 34(7), 697–708. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000150
5.
D’AgostinoE. M.PatelH. H.HansenE.MathewM. S.MessiahS. E. (2021). Longitudinal effects of transportation vulnerability on the association between racial/ethnic segregation and youth cardiovascular health. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 8(3), 618–629. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00821-8
6.
DuntonG. F. (2018). Sustaining health-protective behaviors such as physical activity and healthy eating. JAMA, 320(7), 639–640. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.6621
7.
ElliottG. C.ColangeloM. F.GellesR. J. (2005). Mattering and suicide ideation: Establishing and elaborating a relationship. Social Psychology Quarterly, 68(3), 223–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250506800303
8.
ElsterA.JarosikJ.VanGeestJ.FlemingM. (2003). Racial and ethnic disparities in health care for adolescents: A systematic review of the literature. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 157(9), 867–874. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.157.9.867
9.
FlettG. L. (2018). The psychology of mattering: Understanding the human need to be significant. Elsevier Academic Press.
10.
FlettG. L.BurdoR.NeponT. (2021). Mattering, insecure attachment, rumination, and self-criticism in distress among university students. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19(4), 1300–1313. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00225-z
11.
FlettG. L.GoldsteinA. L.PechenkovI. G.NeponT.WekerleC. (2016). Antecedents, correlates, and consequences of feeling like you don’t matter: Associations with maltreatment, loneliness, social anxiety, and the five-factor model. Personality and Individual Differences, 92(4), 52–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.12.014
12.
FlettG. L.NeponT. (2020). Mattering versus self-esteem in university students: Associations with regulatory focus, social feedback, and psychological distress. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 38(6), 663–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282919890786
13.
FlettG. L.NeponT.GoldbergJ. O.RoseA. L.AtkeyS. K.Zaki-AzatJ. (2022). The anti-mattering scale: Development, psychometric properties and associations with well-being and distress measures in adolescents and emerging adults. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 40(1), 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829211050544
14.
GalanakiE. P.NelsonL. J.AntoniouF. (2023). Social withdrawal, solitude, and existential concerns in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 11(4), 1006–1021. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968231170247
15.
GraheJ. E.CorkerK. S.SchmoleskyM.AlvarezL. D. C.McFallJ.LazzaraJ.KempA. H. (2018). Do institutional characteristics predict markers of adulthood? A close replication of Fosse and Toyokawa (2016). Emerging Adulthood, 8(4), 270–284. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696818810268
16.
GrøtanK.SundE. R.BjerkesetO. (2019). Mental health, academic self-efficacy and study progress among college students: The SHoT study, Norway. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(45), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00045
17.
HarandiT. F.TaghinasabM. M.NayeriT. D. (2017). The correlation of social support with mental health: A meta-analysis. Electronic Physician, 9(9), 5212–5222. https://doi.org/10.19082/5212
18.
HopmeyerA.MedovoyT. (2017). Emerging adults’ self-identified peer crowd affiliations, risk behavior, and social–emotional adjustment in college. Emerging Adulthood, 5(2), 143–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696816665055
19.
HoytL. T.CohenA. K.DullB.Maker CastroE.YazdaniN. (2021). Constant stress has become the new normal: Stress and anxiety inequalities among U.S. college students in the time of COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 68(2), 270–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.10.030
20.
IBM Corp. (2017). IBM SPSS statistics for windows (version 25.0). IBM Corp.
21.
JacksonC. B.CrockettD. A.WrightD. E. (2020). Anti-mattering beliefs and academic outcomes among African American students: The role of achievement motivation. Journal of Black Psychology, 46(1), 25–48.
22.
JohnsonK. F. (2022). Symptoms of anxiety in college students and the influence of social determinants of health. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 36(4), 339–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2020.1827114
23.
JohnsonK. F.BrookoverD. L.BradbrookK. (2020). Social health needs and promotive health factors scale for college students: Scale development and initial validation. Journal of American College Health, 70(1), 74–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1725021
24.
JohnsonK. F.BrookoverD. L.BordenN. S. (2022). General health and depression outcomes related to cumulative indicators of unmet social determinant of health needs for college students. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 36(4), 370–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2021.1881752
KressV. E.NewgentR. A.WhitlockJ.MeaseL. (2015). Spirituality/religiosity, life satisfaction, and life meaning as protective factors for nonsuicidal self-injury in college students. Journal of College Counseling, 18(2), 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocc.12012
27.
KrygsmanA.FarrellA. H.BrittainH.VaillancourtT. (2022). Depression symptoms, mattering, and anti-mattering: Longitudinal associations in young adulthood. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 40(1), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829211050519
28.
LeeD. L.RobbinsS. B. (2015). Measuring anti-mattering: Development and validation of the anti-mattering scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(3), 568–582. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000084
29.
LiuH.ZhangM.YangQ.YuB. (2020). Gender differences in the influence of social isolation and loneliness on depressive symptoms in college students: A longitudinal study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55(2), 251–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01726-6
30.
LuoY.HawkleyL. C.WaiteL. J.CacioppoJ. T. (2012). Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine, 74(6), 907–914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.028
31.
MagnanS. (2021). Social determinants of health 201 for health care: Plan, do, study, act. National Academy of Medicine Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.31478/202106c
32.
McCombS. E.GoldbergJ. O.FlettG. L.RoseA. L. (2020). The double jeopardy of feeling lonely and unimportant: State and trait loneliness and feelings and fears of not mattering. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(6), 563420–563443. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.563420
33.
MilnerA.PageK. M.LaMontagneA. D. (2016). Perception of mattering and suicide ideation in the Australian working population: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey. Community Mental Health Journal, 52(5), 615–621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-016-0002-x
34.
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10022
35.
NevilleH. A.AwadG. H.BrooksJ. E.FloresM. P.BluemelJ. (2017). Colorblind racial ideology and psychological well-being among Black and Latinx college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(3), 259–267. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000204
36.
OysermanD.UskulA. K.YoderN.NesseR. M.WilliamsD. R. (2007). Unfair treatment and self-regulatory focus. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(3), 505–512. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.014
37.
RibeiroÍ. J.PereiraR.FreireI. V.de OliveiraB. G.CasottiC. A.BoeryE. N. (2018). Stress and quality of life among university students: A systematic literature review. Health Professions Education, 4(2), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpe.2017.03.002
38.
SkjerdingstadN.JohnsonM. S.JohnsonS. U.HoffartA.EbrahimiO. V. (2021). Feelings of worthlessness links depressive symptoms and parental stress: A network analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 64(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.2223
39.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics. Allyn & Bacon.
40.
Van OrdenK. A.WitteT. K.CukrowiczK. C.BraithwaiteS. R.SelbyE. A.JoinerT. E.Jr. (2010). The interpersonal theory of suicide. Psychological Review, 117(2), 575–600. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018697
41.
VosylisR.KlimstraT. (2022). How does financial life shape emerging adulthood? Short-term longitudinal associations between perceived features of emerging adulthood, financial behaviors, and financial well-being. Emerging Adulthood, 10(1), 90–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696820908970
WorsleyJ. D.PenningtonA.CorcoranR. (2022). Supporting mental health and wellbeing of university and college students: A systematic review of review-level evidence of interventions. PLoS One, 17(7), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266725
45.
YildirimA.ÇelikV. (2021). The effects of a social health promotion program on social health and stress levels of university students. Current Psychology, 40(3), 1577–1585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00599-5
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
