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College Student Generational Status: Similarities, Differences, and Factors in College Adjustment

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Abstract

This study explored similarities and differences between 130 first-year college students classified as first or second generation. Multiple regression analyses and between-group t tests were performed to analyze the data. The study found that firstgeneration students reported significantly less parental income and social adjustment. On-campus friend support predicted overall adjustment better for second-generation students whereas intellectualism predicted better for first-generation students. Selfesteem and on-campus support consistently predicted adjustment for the entire sample. Implications are suggested.

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Author notes

  1. James B. Hertel

    Present address: University of Missouri-Columbia Psychology, Box 2066, 106 Walter Hall, Stephens College, Columbia, MO, 65215, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stephens College, Columbia, MO, 65215, USA

    James B. Hertel

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  1. James B. Hertel
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Correspondence to James B. Hertel.

Additional information

This article was adapted from his doctoral dissertation at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology.

I thank Ms. Rachel L. Page for her clerical assistance and Dr. Rosemary Barrow for her editorial comments in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Hertel, J.B. College Student Generational Status: Similarities, Differences, and Factors in College Adjustment. Psychol Rec 52, 3–18 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395411

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