Poster #70 - A Cross-Disciplinary Mental Health Awareness Program for College Students: Exploring Attitudinal and Behavioral Outcomes

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Introduction

College student mental health has become a significant concern (American College Health Association (ACHA), 2017). The ACHA Fall 2017 National College Health Assessment showed students reported negative academic impacts from mental health concerns including anxiety (25.1%), depression (16.8%), stress (31.7%), and sleep difficulties (21.4%). Further, 39.2% reported they felt so depressed the prior year that it was difficult to function and 12.1% seriously considered suicide. The increasing demand for mental health services (CCMH, 2017) coupled with limited resources available through campus counseling centers (AUCCCD, 2016) has left colleges and universities struggling to address unmet mental health needs across the continuum of severity. Innovative, university-wide efforts to develop programming delivered outside of traditional counseling centers are warranted and may serve to complement existing services.

Methods

Collaborating across academic and student affairs at a major, metropolitan university, we utilized a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of a mental health and coping awareness program (The “Behind Happy Faces” project) aimed at changing students’ attitudes and stigma surrounding mental health and at promoting appropriate coping and help-seeking behaviors. Key components involved reducing stigma, teaching self-compassion, achieving balance, identifying coping strategies, and helping friends. The program was implemented during two 45-minute sessions in the classroom or as a single 90-minute session to groups on campus (e.g., Greek Life, Black Student Union, and Academic Advising Program). Control participants came from matched classrooms or student affairs programs and completed questionnaires at the same time points as intervention participants. In total, 617 students (316 Control; 301 Intervention) (84% female, 60% Caucasian) participated across two years. At three time points, students completed measures on their attitudes towards seeking help (Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help; Fischer & Turner, 1970), their negative feelings (stigmatization) towards someone experiencing a mental health disorder (General Attributions Questionnaire; Corrigan et al., 2001), and their own help-seeking behaviors.

Results

Using a series of 2 (Intervention vs. Control) x 3 (Baseline, Post Intervention, One Month Follow Up) repeated measures ANOVAs, we found a main effect of time on attitudes and stigmatization, but no main effect of condition and no interaction effects, suggesting that all students’ attitudes and stigmatization of mental illness improved over time. Students receiving intervention consistently reported a greater likelihood of engaging in help-seeking behaviors (for themselves or for close others) when compared with control participants at one month follow up (Table 1). Logistic regression showed intervention participants’ greater likelihood of seeking help held true after controlling for differences in help-seeking at baseline.

Discussion

We were able to assemble a cross-discipline, cross-division team to successfully implement a mental health awareness and coping curriculum with a wide cross-section of college students. Although the curriculum did not appear to improve attitudes and stigmatization beyond what students may have been exposed to in introductory health and psychology courses, it was able to influence students’ decisions to seek appropriate care for themselves and assist close others in seeking help. The program shows promise in helping to address the significant mental health needs of young college students.

Authors

• Erin Girio-Herrera, Towson University
  Presenting Author

• Jonathan Mattanah, Towson University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Karen Eskow, Towson University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nicole Herman, Towson University
  Non-Presenting Author