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Background: The increasing prevalence of mental health issues among college students, particularly international engineering students, has become a growing concern. While previous studies have explored factors contributing to mental health issues among college students, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding international undergraduates in engineering. International students, with their different beliefs, values, and expectations related to mental health, may have different coping strategies, help-seeking preferences, and service utilization patterns. Among various factors, religiosity may influence their approach to coping, seeking assistance, and utilizing services. With this in mind, this study investigates the impact of religiosity on the mental health, help-seeking behavior, and service utilization of international undergraduate engineering students in the United States. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study explores the relationship between religiosity and service utilization among college students, with a particular focus on international undergraduate engineering students in the US. It seeks to answer several research questions: 1) What is the prevalence of mental health conditions and help-seeking among international engineering undergraduates? 2) Are there gender differences in help-seeking among international engineering undergraduates? 3) How do help-seeking (formal and informal) tendencies vary among engineering undergraduates with different levels of religiosity? Design/Method: The study uses a logistic regression model to analyze data from engineering undergraduate students participating in the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) for 2021-2022 to address research questions. The study considers help-seeking and service utilization as dependent variables and examines how they relate to religiosity while controlling for certain demographic characteristics. Findings: We found that only 15.61 % of the international students in our sample were diagnosed with a mental health condition. Of them, women were twice as likely to screen positive for mental health concerns than their counterparts. Logistic regression models found that students with high religiosity are less likely to seek formal and informal help. Controlling for gender reveals that women with high religiosity are more likely to utilize informal and professional mental health services compared to men. Conclusions/Implications: The findings of this study suggest potential avenues for supporting international students' mental health. One key implication is the exploration of incorporating spiritual and religious practices, as this approach may provide valuable support to international students who may draw strength from their religious beliefs. Moreover, there is potential for collaboration between higher education institutions and local religious organizations to enhance the support and resources available to international students.
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Religiosity Moderates the Link Between Environmental Beliefs and Pro-Environmental Support: The Role of Belief in a Controlling God
The current research examines differences in what motivates environmentally sustainable behavior between more and less religious people in the United States. We found that religiosity moderates the extent to which environmental beliefs predict pro-environmental support. Specifically, environmental beliefs predicted pro-environmental support less strongly among more religious people than less religious people (Studies 1 and 2). Using a correlational (Study 2) and an experimental (Study 3) design, we further found that one particular aspect of religiosity—believing in a controlling god—reduced the importance of personally held environmental beliefs in shaping one’s support for pro-environmental actions. Our findings suggest that motivation to act based on personal beliefs may be attenuated among people who are religious because they believe in an external source of control. Sociocultural factors, such as religion, shape the psychological underpinnings of social actions, and the present research underscores the importance of understanding psychological diversity in promoting support toward environmental sustainability.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1823824
- PAR ID:
- 10283480
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Volume:
- 47
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0146-1672
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 891 to 905
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220948712
