Student Veterans: Factors Impacting Campus Adjustment

Abstract

Veterans represent a growing part of the student body on college campuses. Yet, retention rates continue to remain lower among student veterans in comparison to their civilian peers. A majority of research regarding the student veteran population focuses solely on the physical and mental challenges they face as they transition into student life. However, limited research has explored the relationship experiential avoidance and student engagement has on psychosocial functioning and reintegration difficulties, leaving a gap in universities empirical knowledge about how to successfully meet student veteran needs. Therefore, the current study examined the relationships between factors such as traumatic exposure, perceived social support, psychological flexibility and functioning, and student engagement on college campus. The theoretical lens of experiential avoidance was utilized to examine the function of the behaviors studied.