Contribution of Psychological Support to Risky Behavior Management of Selected High-Learning Institution Students: A Case of Kepler College, Rwanda

Abstract

The students at universities have many things that affect their mental health, including peer pressure, heavy workload, substance abuse, and relationship management. It is a great job to evaluate the contribution of psychological support that mainly helps these students attain a good level of emotional and social interaction and spiritual and mental stability with their families and the community at large as a tool for risky behavior management. The purpose of the study is to assess how psychological support affects managing risky behavior and mental health in university students. The study emphasizes the need to address elements that have an impact on students' mental health, including peer pressure, a demanding workload, drug misuse, and relationship management. Students are given psychological assistance in controlling risky behavior through the application of the theoretical frameworks of Choice Theory, Behavior Theory, and Cognitive Behavior Theory. The study technique includes a census of 100 people: 97 students from cohort 2019B, a career and alumni affairs coordinator, a school counsellor, and an academic advisor. To classify results, data analysis uses coding and tabulation. The study findings dispel the misconception that college students are mature people who do not need help and show that all of them need psychological treatment. According to the report, institutions should provide young people's mental health care a high priority while they are still developing into adolescents. With a correlation value of 0.285, the study found that obtaining mental help and preserving mental stability had notable beneficial associations. Additionally, there was a positive association between seeking out counselling services and using mental assistance to manage activities, with correlation values of 0.500 (p 0.01) and 0.001 (p 0.001, respectively). With a correlation value of 0.625 (p 0.001), a strong positive relationship, social interactions and emotional support were shown to be related.