The Impact of Belongingness on Student Mental Health: Evidence from High-Achieving University Students

This conference presentation examines associations between psychosocial factors and mental health among high-achieving university students. Data were collected through a large-scale mental health webinar, How to Support Mental Health and College Success, presented by Joseph Dorri and Philip Zimbardo in collaboration with the International Honor Society in Psychology (Psi Chi). Measures included psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; Kessler et al., 2003), belonging uncertainty (Walton Zimet et al., 1988), perceived parent support (TGS–PPS; Dorri, 2022), and growth mindset (Dweck, 1999). Structural equation modeling indicated that belonging uncertainty was strongly associated with greater psychological distress, even after controlling for multiple sources of support and mindset. Findings highlight belonging as a central factor in student mental health and support the use of brief, scalable assessment and feedback tools for early identification and intervention. This version reflects post-conference revisions for clarity and reference accuracy. Contributions: Joseph Dorri led research design, questionnaire development, data collection (with Philip Zimbardo), data cleaning, statistical analysis, interpretation, and drafting of the findings. Lara Şen developed the presentation slides. Celia K. Naivar Şen delivered the oral presentation. Jasmine Cagnato and Aurora Hayes provided feedback and review.