Abstract
Student life can be stressful and for some students it may cause mental distress. Besides being a major public health challenge, mental distress can influence academic achievement. The main objectives of the current study were to examine associations of mental distress with academic self-efficacy and study progress. A secondary aim was to examine mental health help seeking for students with mental distress. Data was derived from the Norwegian Students’ health and welfare survey 2014 (SHOT 2014) which is the first major survey comprising questions of both mental health, academic self-efficacy and psychosocial factors amongst students. Utilizing these data for a Norwegian region, we found that 749 (31%) of the 2430 Norwegian full-time students under the age of 35 responded to the survey. Symptoms of mental distress were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) and academic self-efficacy was measured using a Norwegian version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) tailored to the academic setting. Demographic-, social, lifestyle, and study-related variables were included in the analyses. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between mental distress, academic self-efficacy, and academic performance. Seventeen percent reported severe symptoms of psychological distress which is similar to the overall prevalence among students in Norway. Students reporting severe mental distress were four times as likely to report low academic self-efficacy and twice as likely to report delayed study progress compared to students reporting few or moderate symptoms of mental distress. 27% of those reporting severe mental distress had sought professional help whereas 31% had considered seeking help. The study showed that there was a strong association between symptoms of mental distress, academic self-efficacy and study progress. Prospective studies should evaluate whether improved help-seeking and psychological treatment can promote students mental health and ultimately improve academic self-efficacy and study progress.
Highlights
Today’s younger generation represents the largest group of students in history
We found that 85.8 the risk of experiencing low academic self-efficacy was more than 1.7 four times higher [Odds ratio (OR) 4.55] among those who reported symptoms of severe mental health problems than among those who reported few and moderate symptoms
In the national SHoT survey for Norwegian colleges and universities in 2014 we examined the prevalence of mental health problems, their influence on academic self-efficacy and study progress, as well as self-reported help seeking for mental health problems
Summary
Today’s younger generation represents the largest group of students in history. The transition from adolescence into young adulthood involves major changes in several areas – financial, housing, social, and emotional – and this transition period can cause relational challenges that some young adults experience as stressful. It has been maintained that the proportion of students who Mental Health and Student Performance experience their student life as mentally stressful is increasing (Nedregård and Olsen, 2014) This trend may suggest that students experience this period increasingly demanding, and for some of them it may be a direct cause of mental illness (Nerdrum et al, 2009). Previous studies have reported that emotional problems had a negative effect on study progress and on the dropout rate from higher education (Robbins et al, 2004; Storrie et al, 2010)
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