Auburn University College Experiences Study

*** We are up to 88 of those 191 participants now! Research Assistant Arabella continues to help Dr. Samek this summer to help finish up.

Undergraduate research assistants Lynley and Arabella have been helping Dr. Samek this semester with recruitment. We are asking former participants to complete a follow-up survey for us so that we can track predictors of increasingly common anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as their potential co-occurrence with substance use from the first year of college over a period of four years. Out of the 191 asked, 65 participants have completed our survey so far! We will keep up recruitment over the summer with Arabella's help and are hoping to get that number to at least 141 if we can.

Thank you to Arabella and Lynley for their hard work this semester, and to our participants for sharing their experiences with us! We hope to use these data to help future first-year students at AU and elsewhere.

Dr. Samek is also very proud of Conner Johnston, who presented his honors thesis at AU's This is Research Student Symposium in March, 2026. Conner found anxiety was quite stable from the first year of college to a follow-up assessment two years later. Out of the predictors examined, he found academic burnout was most relevant, though factors seemed to support more of a co-development model of anxiety that is quite stable by entry to college

The lab team presented results from our latest project at AU’s This is Research: Student Symposium. Dr. Samek is so grateful to work with such bright, hard-working, empathetic students.

Undergraduate researchers Jessica Bailes, Mary Recine, Kennedi Proffitt, Claire Diaz, Conner Johnston, and graduate researcher Brooks Triplett-Sowell worked with Dr. Samek to analyze 106 open-ended responses provided by mostly 3rd year college students regarding what they thought was contributing to the rise in anxiety and depression among young people. The most frequently endorsed umbrella code was that it was related to social media, with 54.7% of responses highlighting its relevance. Responses highlighted nuance in that it wasn't just the amount of time spent on social media, but unintended consequences from social comparison and feeling pressure to be perfect, how people are meaner online, and how more time online meant less in-person interaction. Another frequent umbrella code was related to stress, with 39.7% of responses indicating its relevance. This also included nuance, ranging from economic uncertainty, academic stress, to worry about the future and whether their generation can afford things like homes.

We concluded that results support programming aimed at reducing stress and improving mindful presence. Young people should monitor not just their time but their emotions while online and notice when it is time for a break, as well as balance in-person interaction within online life to avoid isolation. It would be interesting to explore if device-free zones on campus would be welcome or beneficial.

Larger economic and affordable housing concerns could be addressed with policy.

New publication from the College Experiences Study!

Dr. Samek, Dr. Duke-Marks, doctoral student Brianna Crumly-Goodwin, and Dr. Bruno Ache Akua published results from a qualitative component of our study. We asked Black, Indigenous, and other first-year Students of Color to reflect on their experiences of racism and analyzed their open-ended responses. Results showed experiences of racism are common and impactful.

We note "It is also important for White and BIPOC students alike to know and practice how to disrupt such experiences when they are observed (Sue et al., 2019). Given the importance of national, international, or local recognition of race-based attacks and how that changed how they view society, it is important to have safe spaces for BIPOC students to respectfully address and talk about race and racism (e.g., with family, friends, social support clubs at school or within community and religious organizations). Along these lines, it remains essential that BIPOC students engage in self-care and adaptive coping techniques amidst their ongoing exposure to racial stress and trauma. Institutions must grapple with the fact that racist experiences are not an artifact of the past – they remain prevalent and are distressing to BIPOC students."



https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21676968251390025

Study update brought to you by Undergraduate Research Assistant Jessica Bailes. Thank you for your continued work on our project and for disseminating this info to the public!

Thank you to the dear research assistants that helped Dr. Di in the lab this summer (Kyndal, Jessica, Brooks and also Conner, not pictured here). We had our end of the semester celebration lunch today.

Yep, it really is just one Professor and a few students working behind the scenes to collect data from prior first-year AU students to get a better understanding of what factors are most relevant to mental health symptoms that may or may not co-occur with problematic substance use as they transition through college.

Thank you kindly to our research participants. It means the world to us!