The Effects of A Gap year on College Students and Mental Health
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Megan Kuhles
College:
The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major:
Forensic Psychology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Christine Doyle
Abstract:
The purpose of this experiment was to see if students had less mental health related issues as a result of taking a gap year or gap semester. Participants were asked a series of questions related to a gap year and also demographic questions. There were a total of 68 participants aged 18-65+. The participants were first asked to fill out a consent form before the survey. The participants then filled out a series of demographic questions and questions related to their knowledge of a gap year. An Independent t-Test was performed to analyze the hypothesis that people who took a gap year would be less stressed than people who did not take a gap year. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. There was no significant difference between people would took a gap year (M=3.75, SD=1.00) and those that did not (M=3.35, SD=1.06), t(52)=1.440, p=ns. A lack of participants skewed the research. For future studies, more participants are required.