Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The prevalence of social isolation in the United States is rising due to such disparate causes as COVID-19, increases in the cost of living, and the introduction of new technologies (Kannan & Veazie, 2023). Although experiencing social support and inclusion during the college years contributes importantly to young adults’ feeling valued, loved, and belonging to a community (Arslan et al, 2018), young adults in college are reported to be one of the highest-risk populations for depression, social isolation, and mental health issues (Elliott, 2021). The nationwide Healthy Minds Survey found that two-thirds of nearly 33,000 students surveyed at schools around the United States reported significant experiences of loneliness and isolation, and over 83 percent of students reported that emotional or mental health issues had significantly impacted their academic performance (Eisenberg et al., 2020). We hypothesize that transportation access issues are a significant driver of social isolation. Murphy et al. (2022) found that 25 percent of respondents in a nationwide study experienced transportation insecurity daily. While the relationship between transportation access and well-being has been studied in some populations (Banister & Bowling, 2004; Currie & Delbosc, 2010; Mollenkopf et al., 2005; Delbosc & Currie, 2011.), few of these studies have focused on the effects of lack of transportation on rates of social isolation, and there is a lack of data on transportation issues among college students. This gap is the driving force behind our research. We collected survey responses from 100 UTC students to determine how secure their access to transportation was and how frequently respondents participated in a variety of social activities. Using the Transportation Security Index (TSI) to assess reliable access to transportation and the Australian Community Participation Questionnaire (ACPQ) to quantify social inclusion, we determined that there was no significant correlation between transportation access and overall social inclusion in our sample. Investigating the ways that transportation access impacts the social lives of UTC students helps us better understand the flow of life in Chattanooga as the city grows and changes. Our hope is that the results of this study can help guide future research in this area, and that our results will inform policy conversations surrounding transportation access. Our results are of interest to UTC as an indicator of the extent to which our campus population needs transportation reform policy.

Document Type

posters

Language

English

Rights

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

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Transportation Access and Social Inclusion in College Students

The prevalence of social isolation in the United States is rising due to such disparate causes as COVID-19, increases in the cost of living, and the introduction of new technologies (Kannan & Veazie, 2023). Although experiencing social support and inclusion during the college years contributes importantly to young adults’ feeling valued, loved, and belonging to a community (Arslan et al, 2018), young adults in college are reported to be one of the highest-risk populations for depression, social isolation, and mental health issues (Elliott, 2021). The nationwide Healthy Minds Survey found that two-thirds of nearly 33,000 students surveyed at schools around the United States reported significant experiences of loneliness and isolation, and over 83 percent of students reported that emotional or mental health issues had significantly impacted their academic performance (Eisenberg et al., 2020). We hypothesize that transportation access issues are a significant driver of social isolation. Murphy et al. (2022) found that 25 percent of respondents in a nationwide study experienced transportation insecurity daily. While the relationship between transportation access and well-being has been studied in some populations (Banister & Bowling, 2004; Currie & Delbosc, 2010; Mollenkopf et al., 2005; Delbosc & Currie, 2011.), few of these studies have focused on the effects of lack of transportation on rates of social isolation, and there is a lack of data on transportation issues among college students. This gap is the driving force behind our research. We collected survey responses from 100 UTC students to determine how secure their access to transportation was and how frequently respondents participated in a variety of social activities. Using the Transportation Security Index (TSI) to assess reliable access to transportation and the Australian Community Participation Questionnaire (ACPQ) to quantify social inclusion, we determined that there was no significant correlation between transportation access and overall social inclusion in our sample. Investigating the ways that transportation access impacts the social lives of UTC students helps us better understand the flow of life in Chattanooga as the city grows and changes. Our hope is that the results of this study can help guide future research in this area, and that our results will inform policy conversations surrounding transportation access. Our results are of interest to UTC as an indicator of the extent to which our campus population needs transportation reform policy.