Trauma predicts fitting in at college, whether or not students are military veterans

What is it about?

We surveyed military veteran and civilian students about their experiences of transitioning to college life. We found that students, both veteran and civilian, with past exposure to a potentially traumatic event fit in worse than students without such exposure.

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Why is it important?

Although previous research shows that military veteran students experience alienation, our study shows that it is trauma rather than veteran status that predicts students’ sense of fitting in. Past exposure to trauma was associated with poorer emotional adjustment in civilian students, but not in military veteran students.