Family Achievement Guilt and Mental Well-being of College Students

Previous research has demonstrated that first-generation college students (i.e., students whose parents did not attend college) feel guilty about their educational achievements when their family members do not have similar access to higher education. We advance existing research by investigating how college students’ mental health is associated with family achievement guilt, which is feelings of discomfort with one’s college success, particularly in the context of family members (i.e., parents and siblings). We hypothesize that family achievement guilt will be associated with more depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem, and that high levels of guilt will impact first-generation college students’ mental well-being significantly more than non-first-generation college students. College students (N = 255; M Age = 19.96, SD = 1.77, 40 % Mexican descent) completed online surveys with measures of family achievement guilt, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem. Analyses revealed that, as hypothesized, more family achievement guilt was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms (p < .001) and lower self-esteem (p < .05) for all students. As predicted, first-generation college students reported significantly more depressive symptoms at higher levels of family achievement guilt compared to non-first-generation college students (p < .001). These findings demonstrate how the family context is important to consider in the adjustment and success of first-generation college students.