# Physiological Well-Being and Chronic Disease Risk Among First-Generation College Students > **NIH NIH F31** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2020 · $23,262 ## Abstract PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Along with economic and psychological benefits, college attendance can be advantageous for long-term physiological well-being. For students who are socially and academically at-risk, however, it is unclear to what extent these physiological benefits exist. First-generation college students (i.e., students whose parents do not have college degrees; also referred to as “first-gen students”) represent 24% of US college students. With higher attrition rates, lower grade point averages, and more social difficulties relative to their continuing-gen peers, first-gen students may not reap the physiological benefits of attending college, at least in the short term. Aside from two studies that found greater physiological stress-reactivity in first-gen students compared to their continuing-gen peers, no studies have considered objective, baseline measures of first gen students’ physiological well-being. This project will add to the existing literature by inspecting whether college generation status affects freshmen’s metabolic (i.e., systolic and diastolic blood pressure; waist-to-hip ratio; total/HDL cholesterol; glycated hemoglobin) and immunological profiles (i.e., Interleukin-6; C-reactive protein; Epstein- Barr virus antibody titers). The project will also examine whether differences by generation status result from differences in college-related psychosocial stress and whether social support and protective characteristics (i.e., sense of belonging; social integration) moderate the effect of generation status and college stress on physiological well-being. To this end, 110 (55 first-gen) freshmen will be followed through their first two semesters in college. Multiple regression models will be fit to inspect main effects of generation status on health profiles. Structural Equation Modeling will be used to assess whether greater college stress partly explains differences in health profiles of first- and continuing-gen students. Finally, possible moderation effects of social support and protective characteristics on students’ physiological well-being will be assessed in two ways, using multiple regression. First, by examining interactions between generation status and protective characteristics. Second, by examining interactions between protective characteristics and college stress on first-gen students’ health profiles. Although generally healthy, college students may already exhibit early signs of chronic disease. A better understanding of the potential effects of generation status on physiological well- being may help inform future programs aiming to promote all aspects of first-gen students’ success and well- being. This is particularly important during the transition to college and may lead to positive downstream effects on later life chronic disease risk. This F31 fellowship will afford me the theoretical and applied training necessary to strengthen my understanding of first-gen students’ characteristics and the influence o... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10115520 - **Project number:** 5F31HL149179-02 - **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE - **Principal Investigator:** Emily J Jones - **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2020 - **Award amount:** $23,262 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2021-04-12 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10115520 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10115520, Physiological Well-Being and Chronic Disease Risk Among First-Generation College Students (5F31HL149179-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10115520. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*