The goals of this study were to (a) examine the phenomenology and developmental correlates of problematic Internet use (PIU) in a large and diverse college student sample; (b) evaluate a developmental process model of PIU in which the expected association between child maltreatment and PIU would be explained by alexithymia; and (c) explore these relations as a function of gender and race. PIU was assessed in a sample of 1,470 college students (62.9 percent female, 37.1 percent male; M(age)=19.13 years [SD=1.49]; 46.1 percent Asian, 28.2 percent Hispanic, 16.3 percent White, 5.9 percent Black, and 3.5 percent Multiracial/Other) who participated in a larger study of young adult adaptation, which included measures of child maltreatment, alexithymia, self-concept, social support, and psychopathology. Males and Asian students endorsed higher levels of PIU than females and other ethnoracial groups, respectively. PIU was related to contemporaneous maladaptation in the form of decreased self-concept, lower social support, and increased psychopathology across groups. Experiences of child maltreatment were related to increased PIU, and mediation analyses showed that this relation was partially explained by alexithymia. These relations were comparable across males and females and between Asian and non-Asian respondents. The analyses provide evidence for the significant role of child maltreatment and the cognitive-affective deficits it precipitates in understanding pathways toward PIU in young adulthood. Our findings suggest that maltreated youth are at disproportionate risk for PIU, and their capacities to regulate and process emotion are important targets for prevention and therapeutic intervention.

The purpose of this study was to improve an instrument used to assess career aspirations (the Career Aspiration Scale), so the revised measure can be used with confidence in research and practice. Items were added to the existing two scales (educational and leadership aspirations) to enhance reliability. In addition, items assessing a third construct of importance to the operationalization of career aspiration (i.e., achievement aspiration) were developed for inclusion in the revised measure. Three studies to assess the psychometric properties of the Career Aspiration Scale–Revised (CAS-R) were conducted with a total of 583 undergraduate and graduate women. The results of confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the three-factor solution assessing achievement, leadership, and educational aspirations had good model fit. Support also was found for the reliability and validity of the CAS-R when used with undergraduate and graduate women. Suggestions for future research and practice using this measure are provided.

We examined the effectiveness of the Hill model of helping skills training for 191 undergraduate students in six sections of a semester-long course. Students completed self-report, performance, and nonverbal measures at the beginning; they conducted one 20-min helping session at the beginning and another toward the end of the semester; and they completed self-efficacy measures at the end of the semester. Students' helping skills improved over the course of the semester, as evidenced by higher helper-and volunteer client-rated session quality, reduced proportion of words spoken in sessions, increased proportion of exploration skills used in sessions, and increased self-efficacy for using helping skills. Self-reported empathy predicted four of the five helping skills criteria at the beginning-of-semester assessment. Facilitative interpersonal skills predicted end-of-semester self-efficacy in helping skills when controlling for retrospective prelevels and instructor effects. Implications for training and research are presented.

Career Construction Theory (CCT) posits that an individual’s vocational development occurs as a product of their readiness, resources, and responses to the environment in which they are situated. Thus, an individual’s ability to adapt to environmental demands is predicated on a number of complex and interwoven inter- and intrapersonal factors. This is particularly relevant to the community college student population who, relative to their 4-year university counterparts, experience disparate rates of educational barriers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use CCT as a theoretical framework for investigating the relations among agentic characteristics (personal growth initiative and grit), barriers (perceptions of academic and educational barriers and coping with barriers), and career adaptability in a sample of diverse community college students. Data from a sample of 309 community college students indicated that perceptions of barriers significantly predicted career adaptability through coping with barriers, grit, and personal growth initiative. Serial mediation was supported for the effect of perceptions of barriers on career adaptability through personal growth initiative and coping with barriers. Results also indicated that the proposed model accounted for 55% of the variance in career adaptability. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relative contributions of career predictors (self-efficacy, career barriers, and coping-efficacy for overcoming barriers) in predicting educational and achievement aspirations in a diverse sample of community college students. Data from 236 community college students were utilized. Results from hierarchical regressions suggested that career-decision self-efficacy, college self-efficacy, compromising career for partner, perceptions of barriers, and coping efficacy in overcoming barriers were unique predictors of achievement and educational aspirations. As hypothesized, coping efficacy accounted for variance above and beyond the contributions of self-efficacy and barriers in predicting aspirations. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.