Table 1.
Descriptive statistics of key variables
| All students |
First-year students |
Underrepresented racial/ethnic minority or first-generation students |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | (Standard deviation) | N | Mean | (Standard deviation) | N | Mean | (Standard deviation) | N | |
| Sense of belonging | |||||||||
| Belonging composite (T1) | −.005 | (.906) | 1,002 | −.012 | (.903) | 422 | −.108 | (.940) | 373 |
| Belonging composite (T2) | 0 | (.901) | 999 | −.013 | (.887) | 422 | −.085 | (.893) | 371 |
| Mental health outcomes | |||||||||
| Depression score (T1) | 10.339∗∗∗ | (6.214) | 929 | 9.926∗∗∗ | (6.105) | 393 | 11.328∗∗∗ | (6.311) | 354 |
| Depression score (T2) | 13.122∗∗∗ | (6.928) | 974 | 12.659∗∗∗ | (6.969) | 411 | 13.508∗∗∗ | (6.910) | 364 |
| Depression diagnosis (T1) | .442∗∗∗ | (.497) | 929 | .420∗∗∗ | (.494) | 393 | .525∗∗∗ | (.500) | 354 |
| Depression diagnosis (T2) | .609∗∗∗ | (.488) | 974 | .582∗∗∗ | (.494) | 411 | .637∗∗∗ | (.481) | 364 |
| Anxiety score (T1) | 1.312 | (1.035) | 978 | 1.218 | (1.016) | 410 | 1.408 | (1.025) | 366 |
| Anxiety score (T2) | 1.338 | (1.072) | 991 | 1.211 | (1.049) | 417 | 1.437 | (1.076) | 371 |
| Elevated anxiety risk (T1) | 1.688 | (.822) | 978 | 1.595 | (.792) | 410 | 1.765 | (.827) | 366 |
| Elevated anxiety risk (T2) | 1.716 | (.838) | 991 | 1.626 | (.814) | 417 | 1.782 | (.850) | 371 |
| Other student-level factors | |||||||||
| Sex (male = 1) | .382 | (.486) | 1,002 | .359 | (.480) | 423 | .332 | (.472) | 373 |
| Age (T1) | 19.340 | (1.398) | 1,004 | 18.305 | (.645) | 423 | 19.555 | (1.494) | 373 |
| Underrepresented racial/ethnic minority or first-generation student (URM or FG = 1) | .372 | (.483) | 1,004 | .322 | (.468) | 423 | 1.000 | (.000) | 373 |
| First-year status (FY = 1) | .421 | (.494) | 1,004 | 1.000 | (.000) | 423 | .365 | (.482) | 373 |
| Residential status | 1.970 | (1.073) | 1,004 | 1.000 | (.000) | 423 | 2.180 | (1.172) | 373 |
Residential status was measured as 1 = in Pennsylvania; 2 = in the U.S., but a different state other than Pennsylvania; 3 = outside of the U.S. (international student); 4 = prefer not to answer. Columns 4–6 include all first-year students irrespective of their racial/ethnicity or first-generation college status. Similarly, columns 7–9 include all URM or FG students irrespective of their college year. These categories are not mutually exclusive; rather, the grouping (and associated moderation analyses in subsequent tables) is guided by past theory and empirical literature on college students’ sense of belonging and mental health. Asterisks denote statistically significant differences between unadjusted T1 and T2 means.
FG = first-generation; FY = first-year; URM = underrepresented racial/ethnic minority.
∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01; ∗∗∗p < .001.