(1187) The Impact of Social Support, Extracurricular Activities, and Community Involvement on Well-being in College Students

Objectives: Students on a college campus, INCLUDING pharmacy students who have a rigorous curriculum, experience significant stress levels due to changes in environments, heavy workloads, and evolving relationships. As research shows, substantial levels of academic stress have a major impact on mental health and well-being. When facing stressful conditions, social support, extracurricular activities, and civic engagement are essential to maintain a balanced lifestyle and well-being. Social support involves the network of people who one believes supports them in their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Whether social support from others is tangible or intangible, one can feel comfort knowing he or she has someone to rely on during a difficult time. Recent studies have discovered a positive correlation between perceived social support and well-being. Additionally, involvement in college clubs and extracurricular activities has been positively associated with a higher level of psychological well-being. Based on these findings, this research will determine if extracurricular activities, social support, and civic engagement are effective strategies that help to maintain well-being in college students. The SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THIS RESEARCH ARE TO DETERMINE WHETHER EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT CONTRIBUTE TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF STUDENT WELL-BEING.

Methods: This study will measure student campus extracurricular activities, social support, civic engagement and mental well-being using a 15-item, Rand social support and quality of life survey. The quality of life survey includes elements of mental well-being. Specifically, this survey will determine the number of memberships the student currently holds to include sport involvement, the number of hours per week they devote to those organizations, and any civic engagement or volunteer activities. The survey will include measurements of student’s perceived social support and well-being. The anonymous survey was sent to all Wilkes University students over the age of 18. OF THE 2,250 STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED THIS SURVEY, 260 WERE PHARMACY STUDENTS. THERE WAS NO INCENTIVE TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY AS PARTICIPATION WAS COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY AND RESULTS WERE ANONYMOUS. Completing the survey will signify consent. THE TIMELINE FOR DATA COLLECTION WAS ONE MONTH. OUR SAMPLE SIZE CALCULATION IS 145 PARTICIPANTS. Once the data is collected, the results will be analyzed using the Rand social support and quality of life survey scoring instructions. THE RAND SCORES WILL BE COMPARED USING AN INDEPENDENT T-TEST TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS ANY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN WELL-BEING BASED ON STUDENT INVOLVEMENT AND WELL-BEING OF COLLEGE STUDENTS BASED ON STUDENT’S PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL SUPPORT. A MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS WILL BE USED TO ANALYZE A MEANS TO PREDICT WELL-BEING BASED ON THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES COLLECTED IN THE SURVEY.

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