LAUSR

Psychological distress (PD) is highly prevalent among college students. However, not much is known about the role study programs can have in fostering or reducing PD. Two studies were conducted to assess the importance of study program climate in predicting students PD, in addition to that of teachers and peers. In Study 1 (N = 1855), we developed and confirmed the validity of a questionnaire assessing need supportive/thwarting practices emitted by college teachers, peers, and study programs using a bifactor approach. In Study 2 (N = 1797), we relied on this questionnaire to investigate the prediction of students’ PD. Our findings showed that, taken individually, global levels of need support/thwarting from each source appear to be more important predictors of students’ PD than need-specific subfactors. Taken concurrently, the importance of need support by teachers was marginal while need thwarting by peers and study programs had the strongest prediction of students’ PD. Overall, study program climate may be an important overlooked factor spiraling students’ PD.