First-Year Wellness: A Latent Profile Analysis on First-Year College Students’ Wellness and Collegiate Experiences

• In Event: Diverse Perspectives on Counseling College-Age Students

Abstract

Analyzing data from 926 first-year college students, this study used latent profile analysis to distinguish subgroups of students based on their perceived multi-dimensional wellness and examined predictors of holistic wellness. We explored multi-dimensional wellness patterns and how gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, self-esteem, and major impacted students classified by wellness those patterns. We identified different forms of pattern, focusing on dimensions of wellness based on the Holistic Wellness Model. Most notably, differences were found in the patterns of the four different groups in emotional wellness. We found significantly predicted first-year students’ holistic wellness such as gender, socio-economic status, and self-esteem. Implications for research and practice related to first year students’ holistic wellness are discussed.

Authors

• Sohee Kim, University of South Alabama

• Katie K. Koo, University of Georgia