Resilient, Not Deficient: The Role of Social Support in First-Gen Student Mental Health

First-generation college students (FGCS) often face unique challenges compared to their continuing-generation counterparts during college. Some of these challenges are likely due to the cultural mismatch between their previous environment and new academic and social settings, which may increase their risk for depressive symptoms. Despite these obstacles, many studies find no differences in depression between FGCS and their continuing-generation counterparts, suggesting the need to explore potential protective factors that may buffer depressive symptoms, such as social support. Therefore, using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative dataset of U.S. adolescents followed into adulthood, I investigated how social support mediates the relationship between generational student status and depressive symptoms. First-generation college student status is determined based on parental education levels, and depressive symptoms are measured using the CES-D scale. In adolescence at Wave I, I analyze both familial support from parents and nonfamilial support from teachers, other adults, and friends. In young adulthood Wave III, I focus specifically on parental social support, including emotional closeness and financial support. I estimate six Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models that progressively add controls for baseline depressive symptoms, demographic characteristics, academic factors, and social support at both time points. Findings suggest that first-generation status is not a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in college after controlling for earlier depression. However, perceived closeness to parents during college is a strong protective factor associated with lower depressive symptoms for all students. These results convey the importance of social support and shift the focus from deficits to the resilience of FGCSs.