Wellness Issues for Higher Education: A Guide for Student Affairs and Higher Education Professionals ed. by David S. Anderson (review)

This edited volume on student wellness issues in higher education overviews current topics pertinent to college students' lives spanning five broad areas: emotional, social, intellectual, physical, and spiritual wellness. Within each broad area, a subset of areas apply different foci to student issues; for instance, under emotional wellness, topical areas of stress management, creating a campus that supports mental health, and the role of technology all shed light on various aspects of emotional health. In the category of social wellness, topical areas of relationship health, sexual decision making, drug use, and alcohol use and intervention help the reader understand some of these complex issues in the lives of students. Other areas range from writings on fostering study skills, enhancing sleep patterns, balancing nutrition, developing a proper exercise program, and understanding spirituality in the lives of students. These are important topical discussions to understand college students' lives in the current millennium, especially with a focus on issues that may be problematic for many college students, such as dealing with problems in mental health, making decisions about the use of alcohol or recreational drugs, or staying in relationships that may not be psychologically healthy.

For example, the chapter on mental health by Dori Hutchinson cites the 2014 survey from the American College Health Association that students are reporting more depression, loneliness, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts than any other generation of students before them. Hutchinson makes the case that this generation of students may lack resilience, which in turn can impact their abilities to overcome challenges and face difficulties in their undergraduate years, thus leading to the problems reported by the ACHA survey. Hutchinson also argues that because college is such an important developmental period for young adults, it is necessary to understand the mental health struggles students may face as they seek to integrate their intellectual and social development.

As another example, Kevin Kruger authors Chapter 7 on technology use. He discusses the important role technology plays in the lives of college students; his discussion is a great complement to the mental health chapter. He cites supporting literature from the Pew Center that more than 80% of students are active with technology, especially social media, and he uses other literature to outline the importance of technology use to maintaining and developing friendships, seeking new relationships, as well as playing an important role in student identity development. Kruger also addresses the negative impact of technology use on mental health. Internet addiction is now considered a mental health disorder and is diagnosed by excessive use of the internet, constant texting or social networking, and hours spent gaming. Studies clearly show that mental health problems arise from too much technology use, such as social isolation, anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. However, Kruger gives a balanced discussion of technology use as he also provides research literature that supports positive outcomes such as positive effects on social engagement with campus activities, with peers, and faculty and staff.

Important Contributions the Book Makes

Emotional wellness

Overall, this edited volume is a positive contribution to the higher education literature on college student wellness. The sections on emotional, social, and physical wellness provide a balanced and broad view of topics important in that area and are relevant to student lives and important for professionals to understand. Emotional wellness overviews managing stress, supporting mental health through a positive campus community, and the role of technology. Students now report feeling more stress than ever, and most surveys indicate students often turn to substance use to cope. Boehm and Phillips, in Chapter 2, reference the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) findings from 2013 showing that stress was the most rated factor on the survey. While counseling centers across the nation are finding ways to reach out to students about stress coping skills, the authors also suggest that it is...