Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the mediating effect of friends and family as sources of perceived social support in the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data sample consisted of 733 university students from January to May 2023. Participants completed the UCLA loneliness…

The relationship between peer support and academic engagement has been widely explored. However, scarce research examined this relationship for college students, and little was known about the underlying mechanism under this relationship. This study aimed to examine the effect of peer support on academic via the mediation of academic motivation…

Although students are encouraged to disclose peer sexual harassment, no studies have investigated disclosure among adolescents. This study investigated the extent of peer sexual harassment disclosure, to whom students make disclosures, and different characteristics associated with disclosure. Three-wave annual data from middle-school students (T1:…

How well classmates communicate support with each other may significantly influence how well they learn and their commitment to learning. This study asked students which aspects of supportive communication they use with each other and which aspects they regard as most important for successful study. One hundred polytechnic students participated in…

Peer support has been an undeveloped pathway for filling the service gap and to generate employment opportunities for autistic individuals. Peer supports have been deployed widely in mental health and among veterans and understanding the utility of this service modality among autistic individuals illuminates opportunities for research, policy, and…

Gender dysphoria (GD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) co-occur relatively often, but there is no evidence-based treatment for this specific group. Therefore, we examined the effects of a group intervention for adolescents with ASD and GD in a pilot study with a pre-post-test design. The adolescents completed questionnaires on quality of life,…

Transitioning to graduate school in the United States presents many challenges for international students including culture shock, academic shock, language barriers, and homesickness. As universities continue to bring international students to their classrooms, it is imperative that they feel welcome and supported. To this end, a university in the…

Learner engagement in online courses is impacted by a wide variety of factors. The purpose of this study was to understand to what extent course community support and personal community support influence learner engagement. Students who had recently completed an online course in a small art and design school were surveyed on their level of…

Persistence across undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs is exceptionally low. Recent studies have shown that social support and sense of belonging are particularly important for students who are historically underrepresented in STEM, yet few interventions have directly targeted or investigated these…

Social isolation and loneliness are reported as having significant impacts on health, especially for older people. Policy concern has led to the creation of interventions to try and tackle these issues, including the funding of community-based support groups. The National Lottery Ageing Better Fund, 2015-2022 supported voluntary and community…

Background/purpose: This study investigates the relationship between digital literacy, metacognitive skills, social support, and students' self-efficacy to better understand the factors that influence academic confidence and performance. Materials/methods: A survey was conducted with 116 participants, and data were analyzed using partial least…

Background: The emphasis of mental health services has changed to become more recovery focussed and is increasingly looking towards new roles such as peer support as a part of service provision (NHSE, 2019). However, services for people with learning disabilities and mental health difficulties have lagged behind with people with lived experience…

Previous research suggests that peer support is an essential component of adolescents' sense of relatedness in peer relationships and correlates with study engagement and life satisfaction. However, what the underlying mechanisms of these relationships are, has remained unclear. This study examined 1) whether the sense of relatedness or study…

This study innovatively contributes to the extensive research on student well-being by investigating how social-contextual factors influence students' day-to-day experiences at both the inter- and intra-individual level. Over 10 days, 324 school students aged 15-17 provided twice-daily data on positive affect (PA) and peer relationship quality…

The complexities of individual (developmental changes) and contextual (change of school) factors interact during a school level transition period. The current study focuses on one aspect of possible difficulties, namely anxiety, and one potential support mechanism, specifically social support from family and peers, and their interplay during the…