ECU College of Business: Hospitality Students' Perception of their Mental Health

Article

Hospitality Students’ Perceptions of Their Mental Health: Implications for Teaching and Learning

Authors

Cynthia S. Deale, PhD and Jenna Seung Hyun Lee, PhD

Publication

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education

What does the research explore?

This study focused on hospitality students’ perceptions of their mental health, including loneliness,
anxiety, anti-mattering, and social support, for concerns about these issues are prevalent. In this
mixed methods study, survey responses for quantitative and qualitative items were obtained from
135 hospitality students attending a university in the United States.

What are the practical implications of this research?

Significant relationships were found, such that anxiety and anti-mattering directly influenced student satisfaction with the college experience. Plus, social support mediated the relationships. Findings from the qualitative items indicated that school and/or classes contributed
to stress, friends and family made them happy, they thought educators should be understanding, and their answers varied about whether hospitality students were more stressed than other students.

This study is truly a reminder for faculty members to consider their students’ mental health, and could also be a reminder to hospitality and tourism managers to consider the mental health of all of their employees.

What are the top takeaways from your findings?

Students’ perceptions of their mattering, social network/support, academic progress, stress, anxiety, anti-mattering, and satisfaction all have relevance.
Similarly, mattering and social network/support directly influenced academic progress, which affected satisfaction and has implications.
Faculty members who teach and staff members who work with students at universities and colleges could pursue some strategies to help students reduce their stress. Plus, they can help students feel like they matter more, decrease their feelings of not mattering, and assist them with developing stronger social networks/support … all to help the students to feel more satisfied and able to make positive academic progress, thus improving students’ overall well-being.

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