Background demographic factors show mixed and outcome-dependent associations: age and gender relate differently to wellbeing versus depression and stress outcomes¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Older student age was associated with greater psychological wellbeing but also with greater depression and stress, marking it as protective for one outcome and risk for others. → Ball 2025 q2 i? Gender had a negative association with all outcomes except overall adjustment, meaning males scored lower on positively framed outcomes (a risk) and lower on negatively framed outcomes like depression (protective). → Ball 2025 (2)

Evidence¶

Ball 2025¶

Ball, I., Banerjee, M., Holliman, A., & Tyndall, I. (2025). Investigating Success in the Transition to University: A Systematic Review of Personal Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Psychosocial Success. https://osf.io/vxu5q?view_only=ee23e20f57c54891b842c92b7a4858de

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative synthesis of background demographic factors (Table A4); the review reports age was protective for psychological wellbeing (Bowman et al., 2010) but positively associated with depression and stress (Busseri et al., 2011), and suggests limited variance in age may explain the divergence.

"age appeared to be a protective factor in relation to psychological wellbeing (Bowman et al., 2010), where older students are associated with greater wellbeing"

Ball 2025 (2)¶

Ball, I., Banerjee, M., Holliman, A., & Tyndall, I. (2025). Investigating Success in the Transition to University: A Systematic Review of Personal Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Psychosocial Success. https://osf.io/vxu5q?view_only=ee23e20f57c54891b842c92b7a4858de

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports that being male is a risk factor for positively framed outcomes (e.g., academic adjustment) but protective for negatively framed outcomes (e.g., depression), and that not being Caucasian was broadly a risk factor. No effect sizes are printed.

"Other than with overall adjustment, gender had a negative association with all the outcomes it was investigated with"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• A systematic review of 32 longitudinal studies identified 96 personal risk and protective factors for psychosocial transition success, consolidated into 16 salient elements across five higher-order domains — a broader claim this one bears on
• The wellbeing effects of school-led nature interventions show a gender effect, with girls benefiting in PA in some studies, but inconclusive findings for age — related