ERIC Number: EJ1306431
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0309-877X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
To Tell or Not to Tell about Your Mental Health Problems? An Intervention for Students
Hofstra, Jacomijn; Boonstra, Nynke; Korevaar, Lies
Journal of Further and Higher Education, v45 n7 p987-998 2021
Worldwide, an increasing number of students in higher education have mental health problems. Talking about these problems at the university is often not that easy. Students fear to be stigmatised if they disclose their problems to others. However, if they do not disclose their problems, they may not get the support they often need. Existing interventions to help people with this disclosure-dilemma are not specifically aimed at students, and lack certain important aspects. Therefore, we developed an intervention to help students with making a personal, well-informed decision regarding whether or not to disclose their problems. We examined the experiences of students and professionals with the new intervention. Moreover, we studied whether the students were less concerned about disclosure and experienced less decisional conflicts after using the intervention. Students with mental health problems from three universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands completed questionnaires prior to the intervention, directly after and three months after. In addition, the educational professionals reported their experiences with applying the intervention. Both students and professionals appreciated the contents and structure of the intervention and students' level of concern about disclosure and level of decisional conflicts were lower after using the intervention.
Descriptors: Mental Health, Mental Disorders, Self Disclosure (Individuals), College Students, Student Attitudes, Decision Making, Stress Variables, Labeling (of Persons), Intervention, Program Effectiveness, Professional Personnel, Students with Disabilities, Internship Programs, Foreign Countries
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A