Homesickness in socially anxious first year college students

Abstract

First year college students took part in a retrospective study exploring factors that may make individuals susceptible to prolonged homesickness. Students responded to a number of questionnaires asking them to first reflect back on how they were feeling during the first two weeks of the semester, and then on how they were feeling currently during the fifth through seventh week. The effects of social anxiety and social support were evaluated as predictors of homesickness. The effect of social anxiety is only a fair predictor of homesickness, but is a better predictor of level of social support at college, which, in turn, is a good predictor of homesickness. Directions for further research are discussed. ********** The transition to university life is often looked upon as a event. However, the changes that result can at times be stressful for the student, as he or she leaves existing sources of social support behind. Commonly, this stress creates feelings of homesickness and the intense desire to return home. While initial feelings of homesickness are obviously common for most, if not all, new students, prolonged feelings often prove to be problematic. Burt (1993) showed that persistent feelings of homesickness can lead to a lack of concentration and ability to perform, along with absent-mindedness and cognitive failures. Thus, homesickness in college students is an issue that must be taken seriously, for it can influence one's level of success in adapting to their new lives as collegians. Fisher and Hood (1987) examined the relationship between homesickness and a number of demographic and personal characteristics of first year college students. Their findings showed that there were no sex differences in the reports of homesickness, and that homesickness is largely independent of age. Furthermore, their results indicated that those students who reported high levels of homesickness had a tendency to view their home environments in terms, suggesting that when they had experiences in the past, it made it harder for them to leave their homes behind. Finally, their results indicated that, homesick individuals had greater psychological disturbances particularly manifest in raised obsessionality scores, somatic symptoms reporting, and depression (p.438). In a second study, Fisher and Hood (1988) found that those first year college students who exhibit signs of insecurity and poor social skills prior to entering university life have a greater tendency to exhibit signs of homesickness during the sixth week of their first term. Finally, Fisher and Hood (1988, p. 316) found that homesick individuals reported greater perceived stress in association with all residential moves than their non-homesick counterparts. Using the work of Fisher and Hood as a guide, other researchers explored factors that may make an individual susceptible to homesickness. For example, Kazantzis and Flett (1998) focused on family cohesion as a determinant of homesickness in first year college students. Their findings showed that family cohesion and dependency were significant predictors of the occurrence of homesickness. Upon further analysis of their findings, they also suggested that homesickness might in fact be a positive affirmation of the importance of family relationships (p. 200). As seen above, some studies have focused on determining what factors influence homesickness in adolescents. Other studies (e.g., LaGreca & Lopez, 1998) have focused on social anxiety among adolescents. Using the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SASA, LaGreca & Stone, 1993) to measure social anxiety, the Social Support Scale for Children and Adolescents (SSSCA, Harter, 1985), to measure social support, and the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA, Harter, 1988) to measure adolescents' perceptions of competence, LaGreca and Lopez examined social anxiety in adolescents. …

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