Project Director

Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-

Department Examiner

Deepak, Pratibha

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Institutional betrayal is defined as the trauma experienced by an individual who feels that their trust in the ability of an institution to keep the individual safe is broken. Healthcare-related institutional betrayal has primarily been explored among working adults, individuals with chronic conditions, and individuals from racially diverse backgrounds. However, healthcare-related institutional betrayal has seldom been explored in college student samples, who may have different healthcare needs compared to other patient populations. The present study explored college students’ experiences with institutional betrayal due to negative healthcare experiences. Survey data were gathered from 157 college students. Measures included healthcare provider trust, perceived physical and mental health, blame, and experiences with institutional betrayal. We hypothesized that college students that have had more frequent instances of institutional betrayal will trust their healthcare provider less and have lower perceived mental and physical health. We also hypothesized that there will be mean differences based on socioeconomic status. Our study found that college students with more frequent instances of healthcare-related institutional betrayal trusted their healthcare providers less and had worse perceptions of their physical and mental health. However, there were no significant mean differences based on socioeconomic status for provider blame and frequency of adverse health experiences. Findings from the study could be implemented into training HCPs and supporting college students as they are navigating the healthcare system, and future studies could consider looking at more diverse patient populations.

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend my biggest thanks to my thesis director Dr. Kristen Black. This project would not have been possible without her, and I really appreciate her patience and understanding throughout this process. She has been an awesome mentor to me, and I have really cherished her guidance and feedback. I would also like to thank Dr. Pratibha Deepak for serving on my committee and for offering her insight and advice on the project. An additional thanks to my supplemental instruction coordinator Jenny Wells and to my honors college advisor Sherese Williams for all the support, guidance, and encouragement they have given me throughout this process and throughout my academic career. Many thanks to my family, especially to my mother, who has always been very supportive when my academic career has taken different directions. Lastly, I would like to thank my good friend Janki Patel for cheering me on and for always making sure to check in on me throughout the drafting process.

IRB Number

25-029

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

12-2025

Subject

College students--Health and hygiene--United States; Industrial safety--Psychological aspects; Psychology, Industrial

Keyword

industrial-organizational psychology; institutional betrayal; healthcare experiences

Discipline

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Document Type

Theses

Extent

iii, 34 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Download

Share

COinS