University staff mental health literacy,stigma and their experience of students with mental health problems

Despite high rates of mental disorders in university students, very few seek professional help. University teaching staff are well placed to connect students with mental health care. However, little is known about university staff attitudes to and knowledge about mental health problems, or whether these factors influence their experience with and assistance of students with these problems. A total of 224 teaching staff members at the Australian National University, Canberra completed an anonymous online survey via an email link (16.4% response rate from N ~ 1370). Measures included demographic and professional information, experiences with student mental health, knowledge of depression (literacy) and attitudes to depression (stigma). Strength of stigmatising attitude did not predict whether a teaching staff member would approach a student to assist with mental health problems. Teaching staff with higher levels of depression literacy (OR = 1.14, p = 0.007) were more likely to feel sufficiently informed to help students with mental health problems. Ensuring staff complete mental health literacy training and have adequate skills to respond appropriately to students with mental health problems may help in connecting young people to appropriate care in a university context.     

Initial Evaluation of Active Minds: A Student Organization Dedicated to Reducing the Stigma of Mental Illness

This study examined whether a new student organization, Active Minds, aimed at increasing awareness of “mental illness” and reducing stigma had an impact on students' stigma and willingness to seek psychological help. Three classes were recruited to become involved in the organization. In a pretest/posttest design, stigma and willingness to seek psychological help were compared between students who became involved in Active Minds and students who did not. Students involved in the organization showed a significant reduction in stigma if they had a history of mental illness in their families. However, willingness to seek psychological help was unaffected. The program's partial success is viewed in terms of empowerment and recovery. The peer support provided through Active Minds may help change people's negative attitudes about mental illness and encourage students to help one another in coping with their diagnoses.     

Student-Athletes’ Perceptions of Mental Illness and Attitudes Toward Help-Seeking

Given that there is evidence that college student-athletes may be at risk for psychological disturbances (Pinkerton, Hintz, & Barrow, 1989), and possibly underutilizing college mental health services (Watson & Kissinger, 2007), the purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward mental illness and help seeking among college student-athletes compared to college student nonathletes. The roles that athletic identity and gender play in treatment-seeking comfort were examined. Contrary to what was hypothesized, the results showed that student-athletes and nonathletes did not significantly differ in willingness to seek mental health treatment. Student-athletes perceived significantly less discrimination toward individuals based on mental illness status.     

Mental Health Stigma,Self-Concealment,and Help-Seeking Attitudes among Asian American and European American College Students with No Help-Seeking Experience

The present study examined whether mental health stigma (i.e., negative attitudes toward people with a psychological disorder) and self-concealment are unique predictors of help-seeking attitudes in Asian American and European American college students with no history of seeking professional psychological services. The Asian American group had less favorable help-seeking attitudes overall, lower levels of stigma tolerance and interpersonal openness, greater mental health stigma, and greater self-concealment than the European American group. Mental health stigma and self-concealment were unique predictors of help-seeking attitudes overall in both groups. However, mental health stigma was not a unique predictor of recognition of need for psychotherapeutic help and confidence in mental health practitioners, the components of help-seeking attitudes theorized to be most associated with actual help-seeking behavior. Self-concealment was a unique predictor of confidence in mental health practitioners in the Asian American group, but not in the European American group.     

应对效能、归因方式与大学生心理求助态度之关系研究

目的：了解大学生在面对心理问题时,寻求专业心理帮助态度与应对效能和归因方式的关系,以及应对效能、归因方式和人口学变量等对大学生寻求专业心理帮助态度的影响作用。为高校心理健康教育提供相关的理论与实证依据。方法：采用应对效能量表、归因方式量表和自编的大学生心理求助态度问卷对福建省330名大学生进行调查。结果：（1）女大学生寻求专业心理帮助态度比男大学生积极。（2）独生子女比非独生子女对寻求专业心理帮助的态度要更积极。（3）来自城市的大学生寻求专业心理帮助的态度比来自农村的大学生要积极。（4）应对效能、归因方式对寻求专业心理帮助态度具有一定的预测作用。结论：高校心理健康应当面向全体大学生、特别针对特殊大学生群体进行心理健康教育,通过归因训练和应对效能训练,以促进学生形成正确的归因方式、良好的应对效能,以期改善其寻求专业心理帮助态度和心理适应水平。     

An Examination of the Impact of a Biological Anti-Stigma Message for Depression on College Students

Stigma is one reason that some people avoid seeking mental health treatment. This study tested whether a biologically based anti-stigma message affected various stigma-related outcomes in college students. One hundred eighty-two undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to see a billboard presenting the message, “Depression is a brain disease,” or a control message. Dependent variables included positive and negative affect, message appeal, stigma, and willingness to seek treatment. The biologically based anti-stigma message increased participants’ affect, was rated as relatively unappealing, and failed to reduce stigma or increase willingness to seek treatment. These preliminary findings raise concern about continued use of similar messages in college populations.     

Erasing the Scarlet Letter: How Positive Media Messages About Sex Can Lead to Better Sexual Health Among College Men and Women

This study explores how positive media messages about sex can lead to better sexual health among young adults (college students at a large university, N = 228) by de-emphasizing sensation seeking, condom embarrassment, and stigma. Employing social learning theory and normative influence frameworks, the research found that college-age women had higher stigma (β =.22, t = 3.37, p <.001 for felt stigma) and lower sensation seeking (β = –.34, t = ?3.17, p <.01). Participants exposed to more media in some forms (e.g., news reading, β = –.131, t = ?1.94, p =.05) had less felt self-stigma. Thus, exposure to media, such as TV and media, and positive messages could encourage healthy sexual behavior in young women (around college age).     

U.S.-Based Latina/O College Students’ Attitudes toward Online Counseling

The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of Latina/o college students in the U.S. toward online counseling, with particular attention to the role of gender, self-stigma, perceptions of stigma by others, and acculturation within a sample of 231 college students. This cross-sectional survey used the ‘Perceived Stigmatization by Others for Seeking Psychological Help Scale’ (Vogel et al. 2009), the ‘Self-Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help Scale’ (Vogel et al. 2006), and the ‘Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics’ (Marin et al. 1987) to measure attitudes toward online counseling. Online counseling had a significant but weak relationship with self-stigma. Additionally, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis tested variables that might predict attitudes toward online counseling, using previous experience with counseling and gender as control variables. In the overall model, previous experience with counseling, acculturation, and self-stigma significantly predicted attitudes toward online counseling. The implications of the findings as well as areas for future research are discussed.     

Attitudes Toward Counseling Among Asian International and Native Caucasian Students

Asian international and native born Caucasian students indicated the source of help they would go to first if they had a personal problem; rated the importance of four counselor characteristics: ethnicity, university degree, age, and gender; and completed Fischer and Turner's scale of attitudes about seeking professional psychological help. There was no difference between Asian and Caucasian Students in the sources of help they would seek. Asian students indicated it was more important that a conselor be or similar ethnicity and older. There were no ethnic differences in attitudes toward professional help. Women were no ethnic differences in attituses toward professional help. Women were more likely to report indicate a need for help regardless of ethnic group. Caucasian women were more tolerant of the stigma of being a client, likely to report interpersonal openness, and to express confidence in mental health practitioners than Asian women or men form either group. Colleges should consider the use of older paraprofessional counselors of the same nationality as interantional student clients.     

大学生艾滋污名问卷的编制与结构验证

目的：选原始项目构成问卷,誊的信度、效度。结果卷昀信度,效度良好。编制大学生艾滋污名问卷。方法：结合国外相关问卷、个人访谈及开放式问卷调查结果,筛对860名大学生进行施测,通过探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析确定问卷结构,并检验问编制的大学生艾滋污名问卷包括社会距离、道德判断与责备、强制性处理意见三个维度,问结论：大学生艾滋污名问卷适用于测查大学生公众艾滋污名。     

A Psychology Fulbright Year in China

This article shares a series of personal observations and anecdotes about central issues in college mental health in China based on my Fulbright year there. There are many cultural and structural forces that both support and constrain the growth of the mental health field in China. This article addresses these forces in terms of their impact on college student psychotherapy and the broader mental health of Chinese college students.     

Sexual Orientation Minorities in College Counseling: Prevalence,Distress, and Symptom Profiles

Sexual minority group members are at a higher risk for mental health difficulties than are heterosexual individuals. The results of this study showed that college student sexual minorities were common in counseling centers and that they were more likely than heterosexual students to seek counseling. The results also showed that sexual orientation groups differed in meaningful ways from one another, and many sexual orientation groups reported higher levels of psychological symptoms than did heterosexual students.     

关注师范院校新生的心理健康——赣南师范学院04级新生心理健康状况调查

师范院校学生心理健康水平如何,将直接影响到我国教育事业的发展。关注师范院校大学新生的心理健康状况并采取有效的措施,是做好师范院校大学生心理健康教育的基础。通过对赣南师范学院2004级新生心理健康状况的调查发现:师范院校新生心理健康出现较为严重症状的因子主要是强迫、人际敏感、抑郁、敌对、偏执;男、女生的心理健康水平无显著性差异;独生子女、非独生子女、城镇和非城镇学生之间的心理健康水平差异极其明显;师范院校独生子女的心理健康水平要高于非独生子女,城镇学生的心理健康水平要高于非城镇学生。     

The Influence of Stigma on College Students' Attitudes Toward Online Video Counseling and Face‐to‐Face Counseling

The difference in attitudes toward online video counseling and face‐to‐face counseling and the relationship between stigma and these attitudes were investigated among a sample of 588 college students. Attitudes toward face‐to‐face counseling are more favorable compared with those toward online video counseling. However, self‐stigma does not influence attitudes toward online video counseling to the same extent as face‐to‐face counseling. Services delivered through online video counseling may be beneficial for those experiencing higher levels of stigma.     

高职学生心理健康状况的调查研究

本研究以437名高职学生为被试，以SCL-90为测量工具，结合开放式问卷调查法和个别访谈法，探讨高职学生的心理健康状况。结果发现：(1)高职学生的心理健康水平比全国普通人群低，心理障碍检出率为17.8％。(2)男生的心理健康水平高于女生的。(3)大二年级学生心理健康水平高于大一、大三年级的．大一、大三年级的心理健康水平之间没有显著差异。     

“Do I Really Belong Here?”: The Stigma of Being a Community College Transfer Student at a Four-Year University

ABSTRACT

Students who begin their educational journeys in community college face many obstacles trying to complete their bachelor’s degrees. Much research has been dedicated to identifying academic factors that predict successful transfer and degree attainment, but relatively little research investigates how the community college experience affects these students once enrolled at the four-year university. Here, we present the results of a qualitative study that explored the challenges faced by 14 community college students during and after transfer. Specifically, we focus on student reports of a sense of stigma from having attended community college and how students overcame these feelings. Recommendations are provided for how community colleges and four-year universities can better equip their students with the knowledge and resources to combat this perception of stigma.     

Chapter 4.

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concerns in the United States and they tend to be among the most frequently reported in college mental health. While efficacious research for the psychotherapy treatment of specific anxiety disorders (e.g., social phobia, panic disorder, etc.) exists, the picture is more complex in clinical practice especially with students who are treated as a whole person, usually involving multiple co-existing disorders as well as normal developmental challenges of adjusting to college. This chapter reviews the evidenced-based research for anxiety disorders in both the general population and the college student population, as well as evidence for therapist/relationship factors. It examines the numerous challenges for conducting effectiveness studies in college mental health, suggestions for working with chronically anxious college students, and future directions for research and practice in this area.     

白族大学生体育锻炼行为特征与心理健康水平的相关性研究

运用文献资料、问卷调查和数理统计等研究方法,探讨、分析云南省白族大学生的体育锻炼行为特征与心理健康之间的关系.结果表明：白族与汉族大学生相比心理问题检出率和各因子分差异均无统计学意义;白族大学生参加体育锻炼动机呈现多元化特征;白族大学生体育人口数百分比高于全国高校水平;不同锻炼动机的白族大学生心理健康效益显著;对大学生的心理健康的干预,要采取多元化的手段,使体育锻炼对大学生的心理健康效益达到最佳.     

Differences in Stigma and Attitudes Toward Counseling Between College Student-Athletes and Nonathletes

ABSTRACT

Researchers have inconsistently found differences between student-athletes and nonathletes regarding levels of stigma and attitudes toward counseling. One limitation of previous comparison studies is that they do not control for factors known to influence attitudes and stigma, such as gender and previous treatment history. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine differences in stigma and attitudes toward counseling between a sample of student-athletes and nonathletes while controlling for these variables. In this brief report (N = 902), we used multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) to analyze differences between the groups. After controlling for gender and previous therapy experience, there were no differences between the groups on stigma or attitudes. The results of this study have implications for future outreach and intervention with student-athlete populations.     

Two Poems

Very little information exists regarding the mental health needs of student artists. This study compared psychological symptoms and diagnoses of college students in 3 conservatories (n = 607) with those of college students in traditional colleges and universities (n = 87,105). The study found no difference in psychological symptoms except for increased stress among art students. The study also found that art students in these conservatories were more likely to make use of counseling services than students at traditional schools.