Undergraduate Mental Health Research Articles

Career planning and development for occupational therapists working in mental health: A scoping review

Introduction: The recent UK Royal College of Occupational Therapists survey found a significant proportion of respondents expressed an intention to leave the profession despite the majority agreeing that occupational therapy is a rewarding career. This scoping review aimed to synthesize the literature on enablers and barriers to career planning and development for occupational therapists working in mental health. Methods: We searched Embase, CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, TROVE, Research Direct and websites of relevant professional organizations. Results: Twenty-six papers were included. Most of the articles were set exclusively in Australia and can be categorized into: career planning and development, workforce planning, onboarding, recruitment and retention. Resource shortages, gender, age, unmet expectations, organizational demands and the lack of a career pathway framework were identified as barriers. Enablers of career success include undergraduate mental health practice placements, early career programmes, personal motivation, greater flexibility, professional resilience, leadership training and research opportunities. Conclusion: A better understanding of the factors that influence career development can facilitate focused recruitment and help retention.

Embedding Service User Experience ('Experts by Experience') Into Undergraduate Mental Health Nursing Education: A Co-Production Research Project.

Internationally, the need to have service user involvement (the 'voice' of recovery journeys) as an established and significant feature on the landscape of professional development has been widely discussed in the area of mental health nursing (MHN) education for over a decade. Service user involvement contributes to a different understanding, bringing 'new' ways of knowing in nursing education and potentially new ways of practicing within mental health services. The objective of this co-produced research was to investigate the current local 'state of play' of service user involvement in MHN student education in a regional university in the Republic of Ireland. This was not research 'on' participants as conventionally conceived, but rather research 'with' participants as co-researchers. Therefore, a group of people [i.e., 'experts by experience/service users' (n = 2), 'student nurses' (n = 2), 'nurse academics' (n = 2)], came together by agreement in recognition of a problem (service user engagement in education) to seek local knowledge and through 'creative dialogue' to identify potential improvements/developments. The key outcomes concentrated on the need for person-centred care to be more than a one-off lecture in a course, but to be central to MHN education and ongoing practice. The need for MHNs to be educated to grasp that the individual they work with is not 'an island', but is connected to a wider network of family, friends and potentially peer support workers, etc. is highlighted. To enhance MHN education going forward, there is a need for 'lived experience' to be a consistent element of education programmes. Achieving this will require stable working relationships with the establishment of career pathways for 'experts by experience' to develop skills and experience in education settings. The pace of culture change in MHN education is sporadic at best and downright slow at worst. However, a lot has been done, but there is more to do: 'We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go…'.

Can the virtual implementation of a college course on human flourishing improve student flourishing during COVID-19? A multi-university study

Objective Evaluate student effects of participating in an undergraduate academic course, Art and Science of Human Flourishing, that was offered in a synchronous, virtual format during the Fall 2020 semester at three universities. Participants Three combined cohorts of undergraduate students from three universities (n = 168). Methods A pre/post/5-month follow-up, propensity-score matched evaluation was conducted. Measures assessed attention skills, social-emotional skills, flourishing, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. Results Relative to comparisons, students in the course reported significant improvements in proximal outcomes related to mindfulness, compassion, and common humanity, as well as decreases in depressive symptoms. Improvements in distal outcomes of flourishing and depressive symptoms were significant at post-course but did not maintain significance at five-month follow-up. Conclusions The academic study of human flourishing and contemplative education offers a promising and unique approach to supporting undergraduate mental health and well-being, even in virtual settings.

The Whakapiri framework in higher education: nurturing relational teaching

A growing body of research suggests that utilising Indigenous frameworks grounded in relational connection and multi-modal knowledge acquisition has numerous benefits for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. This article focuses on the Whakapiri framework, and its application at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand, within a new undergraduate mental health and addiction programme. This programme aims to equip graduates in the field, providing them with the foundational knowledge and engagement competencies necessary for working with both Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) and non-Māori. The Whakapiri framework enhances student engagement, fosters relational teaching practices, and designs effective online learning curricula. The framework also informs the design of online learning curricula, acknowledging the unique challenges and opportunities of digital education environments. Through its emphasis on engaging, enlightening, and empowering, the Whakapiri framework offers professional guidance and enriches student engagement, teaching methodologies, and the development of online learning curricula.

Impact of Social Media on Undergraduate Mental Health in Malaysia

Impact of Social Media on Undergraduate Mental Health in Malaysia

Evaluating the Impacts of an Undergraduate Mental Health Literacy Course

Mental health literacy is an important factor in caring for mental health; however, in the post-secondary student population, mental health literacy is reported to be low. To address these issues, in 2020, one of the authors [CZ] developed an undergraduate mental health literacy (MHL) course offered through the Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo, to undergraduate students in all Faculties. Building on promising early research conducted by two of the authors in 2021, we conducted three studies to evaluate the impacts of the fully online version of this MHL course. Study #1 was a pre-post study to examine knowledge and attitudes related to mental health literacy (n = 162). Study #2 was a one-month follow-up study to assess continued use of mental wellness strategies practiced during the course (n = 18), and study #3 was a content analysis of part one of the final reflection assignment of the course (n = 32). The pre-post study did not reveal any meaningful changes in knowledge and attitude from Time 1 to Time 2. However, the one-month follow-up study and the content analysis of the final reflection assignment showed multiple meaningful and positive shifts in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to mental health, stigma, self-care, well-being, supporting others with mental health concerns, and the meaning of resilience. In addition, the content analysis revealed that students were sharing course resources with peers, friends, family members and with their community at large. In addition to guiding revisions to strengthen the MHL course under investigation, our findings are relevant to other MHL education initiatives in this population.

Undergraduate student nurses’ experience of using standardized patient simulation in mental health course: A qualitative study

ObjectivesThe aim of this research was to explore the perceptions of Lebanese student nurses on use of standardized patient simulations in the undergraduate mental health course.DesignA qualitative descriptive research design informed by descriptive phenomenology was employed.MethodSemi-structed interviews were carried out among 19 student nurses at one major private university in Beirut. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted over the period of 2 months.ResultsThe inductive thematic analysis generated five themes, namely, “Practicing therapeutic communication and mental state examination”, “Readiness for clinical placement”, “Realistic and safe environment to practice”, “Obtaining real-time feedback”, and “Enhancing confidence and reducing anxiety”.ConclusionThe findings of this study emphasizes the significance of incorporating standardized patient simulations in mental health courses to enhance student learning outcomes. Standardized patient simulations can provide nursing students with a supportive learning environment that reduces their challenges in transitioning to practice by equipping them with both needed technical and soft skills.

Social Connectedness Protects Against the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on First-Year Undergraduate Mental Health

Previous research has found significant links between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and worsened mental health outcomes in adulthood but has largely neglected the specific developmental period of the transition to college. The current study examined whether social factors (connectedness, integration, and support) moderated the links between ACEs and mental health. Participants ( N = 129, Mage = 18.6) were first-year undergraduates who completed an anonymous online survey study. ACEs were found to significantly correlate with stress, anxiety, and depression. Of the three social factors, only social connectedness had a buffering effect on the association between ACEs with anxiety and depression. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses illuminated participant psychosocial challenges relating to difficulty with relationships, social avoidance, lack of trust, social comparison, and feelings of exclusion and loneliness. The current research highlights the key role of social connectedness in the psychosocial well-being of college students vulnerable to distress.

Implementation of a Mental Health Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Using Standards of Best Practice.

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is effective for the evaluation of clinical competence. Studies examining the use of OSCEs in undergraduate mental health nursing education in the United States are limited. A pilot study and a follow-up study were conducted to establish the reliability and validity of a mental health OSCE to evaluate the clinical competence of prelicensure nursing students. International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning Standards of Best Practice were used to guide the design and implementation. Results from both studies provide evidence for the use of OSCE in undergraduate mental health nursing education.

Decreasing Prejudicial Attitudes of Fear and Avoidance Toward Those Who Live with a Mental Illness—A Quasi-Experimental Controlled Study

The undergraduate mental health nursing course is an optimal time to address stigma and prejudice, while developing positive student attitudes toward those who live with mental health conditions. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, nonequivalent-group study with a sample of undergraduate nursing students in New York City (N = 126) was conducted to determine the impact of an undergraduate mental health nursing course on attitudes toward people living with a general mental illness, depression, or schizophrenia. The intervention resulted in a significant reduction in total prejudice scores toward those with a general mental illness when compared to the control (p = 0.033, partial η2 = 0.062). The intervention had no significant impact on total prejudice scores regarding those with depression, or schizophrenia. Subscale analysis revealed the intervention significantly reduced attitudes of fear/avoidance regarding general mental illness (p = 0.040, partial η2 = 0.058) and schizophrenia (p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.164). There was no impact on authoritarian or malevolent attitudes. Though some attitudes were not amenable to change, this study provides evidence that positive attitudes can be cultivated through undergraduate nursing education. Curricular reform is needed to reduce all facets of prejudice and best prepare future nurses to care for those with mental health conditions.

Interweaving Narratives of Lived Experience in Mental Health Social Work Curriculum

ABSTRACT This study explored the metacurriculum of an undergraduate mental health social work subject that was developed and delivered collaboratively by lived experience and social work academics in a regional Australian university. Metacurriculum refers to implicit messages about how students learn how to learn that is, the ontological and epistemological positioning of curriculum. In this subject, students were invited to reflect on multiple, diverse, lived-experience narratives of mental distress as they developed their understanding of mental health social work practice. Using cooperative inquiry, we collectively critically reflected on the experience of teaching and learning with this curriculum. Coresearchers included a student who had completed the subject; a mental health social work practitioner/tutor, a social work academic, and a lived-experience academic who coproduced the subject material; and mental health academics acting as critical friends. Findings revealed engaging with lived-experience narratives was experienced as generating compassion for all humanity; challenging stigma by sharing the responsibility of positioning; and enabling critically reflexive dialogue. We concluded that diverse, lived-experience narratives can be incorporated to enact metacurriculum that aligns social work teaching and learning with emerging transformative approaches to mental health. IMPLICATIONS Incorporating diverse narratives of mental distress into curriculum can highlight the operation of intersectionality and privilege. Engaging with multiple narratives of mental distress undermines the binary construction of “them” and “us”. Metacurriculum enacting inclusive, collaborative knowledge development aligns teaching and learning with transformative mental health.

Impact of Social Media on Undergraduate Mental Health in Malaysia

Impact of Social Media on Undergraduate Mental Health in Malaysia

A Missed Opportunity to Cultivate Positive Attitudes about Mental Health Recovery among Undergraduate Nursing Students – A Quasi-Experimental Controlled Study

Introduction Mental health recovery is a critical concept that needs to be thoroughly understood and supported by nurses. Undergraduate nurse educators have the opportunity to clarify misconceptions and cultivate positive recovery attitudes. Aim To assess the impact of an undergraduate nursing course on attitudes toward mental health recovery and the relationship between recovery attitudes and prejudice toward those who experience a mental illness. Methods A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest, nonequivalent-control group study was conducted using a sample of undergraduate nursing students in New York City (N = 126). The intervention group was assigned to an undergraduate mental health nursing course and the control group to a pediatric/maternal health nursing course. Attitudes toward mental health recovery and prejudice were measured at the beginning and end of the semester. Two-way mixed analyses of variance were used to determine the differences in students’ attitudes. Pearson product-moment correlation analyses were used to assess the relationship between prejudice toward people who experience a mental illness and attitudes toward recovery. Results The mental health nursing course had no measurable impact on students’ recovery attitudes. However, there was a moderate-to-strong inverse relationship between recovery attitudes and prejudice toward those who experience a general mental illness (r = −0.54), depression (r = −0.60), or schizophrenia (r = −0.43). Conclusions Curriculum reform is needed to optimize the impact of undergraduate education on students’ attitudes. Possible changes include a more holistic approach to mental health that does not over accentuate the biomedical model, the use of nontraditional clinical sites that provide students an opportunity to interact with those further along in their recovery, and the inclusion of those in recovery in curriculum development. As there was a moderate-to-strong inverse relationship between recovery attitudes and prejudice, educational interventions that positively impact one may also impact the other. Further research is needed to investigate if the relationship is causal.

There’s no place like dorm: actual-ideal dorm ambiance as a unique predictor of undergraduate mental health

ABSTRACT Undergraduate students are a high risk population for mental health challenges. Critically, residing in a setting that fails to evoke desired emotions and perceptions may have important implications for psychological wellbeing. Although previous research has investigated the relationship between student satisfaction and architecture/building amenities, little research has investigated how the ambiance of students’ residences relates to mental health. Across a pair of studies, we evaluate the relationship between actual-ideal ambiance congruency (A-IAC) and mental health outcomes and mood. In Study 1, participants completed a pair of Q-sort tasks that required them to describe both their ideal room ambiance and their current room’s actual ambiance. The discrepancy between these sorts was predictive of depressive symptoms, even when controlling for key covariates (e.g., personality, health, academics). In Study 2, these results were replicated among roommate pairs using dyadic analyses, while also being predictive of anxiety symptoms. Collectively, these studies reveal a novel environmental predictor of student wellbeing that can be of value for university staff. Ultimately, these findings suggest that having the ability to create one’s ideal space may prove to be beneficial and possibly protective for the mental health of undergraduate university students.

Pathways from street network design to symptoms of depression among emerging adults in China

Pathways from street network design to symptoms of depression among emerging adults in China

Acknowledging Stigma: Levels of Prejudice among Undergraduate Nursing Students toward People Living with a Mental Illness—A Quasi-Experimental Single-Group Study

Introduction The undergraduate mental health nursing course may be an optimal time to cultivate students’ positive attitudes toward people living with a mental illness. Aim To determine the impact of an undergraduate mental health nursing course on students’ attitudes toward people living with a mental illness, depression, and schizophrenia. Method A quasi-experimental single-group pretest posttest study was conducted using a sample of undergraduate nursing students in New York City (N = 44). Self-reported measures of prejudice toward those living with a mental illness were collected at the beginning of a mental health nursing course and again at its conclusion. Results A statistically significant decrease in prejudice scores was found concerning mental illness (p = .03, d = 0.23), depression (p = .01, d = 0.31), and schizophrenia (p = .013, d = 0.34). Subscale analysis revealed significant decreases in the fear/avoidance and unpredictability subscales. Yet no significant change was found in the subscales of authoritarianism and malevolence for any of the three conditions. Discussion A mental health course led to a modest decrease in prejudice. However, certain facets of prejudice remain unchanged. Implications for Practice Major curricular reform is needed to optimize the impact of undergraduate nursing education.

Mixed Reality in Undergraduate Mental Health Education: A Systematic Review

The landscape of Extended Reality (ER), which includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) is rapidly changing. However, despite the promising results from many randomized controlled trials (RCTs) developed on healthcare environments, there is a lack of standardization, specifically to determine their effectiveness in academic settings. To our best knowledge, this is the first systematic review addressing the efficacy of MR to enhance learning and skills acquisition in undergraduate mental health education. The purposes of this study were to review the scientific literature of those studies involving MR and undergraduate mental health education, to answer the two following questions: (1) Is MR useful to enhance the acquisition of knowledge and skill training in undergraduate mental health education, and (2) Which are the advantages and disadvantages that should be addressed to successfully develop MR in undergraduate mental health education? We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature from EBSCO, Ovid, PubMed, and Scopus y WOS (Web of Science), following the PRISMA statements and using “mixed reality + education”, “mixed reality + student”, “mixed reality + undergraduate”, and “mixed reality + mental health”, as keywords. Those studies published between 2012 to present, in English or Spanish language, were reviewed. A total of 2608 records were retrieved, and only 6 publications met the inclusion criteria, and were finally included. MR training used was varied. There were no studies providing specific outcomes regarding the student’s acquired knowledge (theoretical concepts) after using MR. Several strengths and weaknesses of using MR with students were discussed. The results will be useful to develop innovative MR strategies to improve undergraduate mental health education, due to the lack of studies focused on this topic.

The Impact of Undergraduates’ Social Isolation on Smartphone Addiction: The Roles of Academic Anxiety and Social Media Use

The COVID-19 pandemic has an adverse effect on the physical health of societies and individuals. One important concern is the effect of social isolation on the mental health of undergraduates, such as academic anxiety, smartphone addiction and other social psychological problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations among undergraduates' social isolation in this special context, social media use for obtaining information about the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., communicative and non-communicative), academic anxiety, and smartphone addiction. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June in 2022 and a total of 388 undergraduates were included. The results showed significant positive associations between social isolation and smartphone addiction and academic anxiety. Furthermore, academic anxiety played a mediating role in the effect of social isolation on smartphone addiction, which was moderated by non-communicative social media use. Some theoretical and practical implications as well as research limitations are discussed.

"omg same"

Literature on education at all levels, from early-years to postgraduate, highlights the role of positive relationships in effective teaching. My experience of teaching undergraduates as a PGR has stressed this emphatically, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of what many students know as “the Rona” are twofold: not only has undergraduate mental health suffered through the uncertainty and isolation of the recent years (e.g. Appleby et al., 2022; Catling et al., 2022), but the already-overwhelming workload of the academic staff primarily responsible for the education and welfare of students swelled during the transition to online teaching. Overcommitting staff even further results in reduced scope for relationship-building with students, in terms of both time availability and emotional capacity. PGR teachers, by comparison, have more flexibility and freedom to connect with undergraduates directly and in smaller groups, and the role of building relationships to support learning can fall to them. &#x0D; In this reflective account, I consider how my role as a tutor of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) subjects for interdisciplinary undergraduate students allowed me to create an encouraging space for them to build relationships with me and each other. I found that near-peer teaching and the mutual trauma of studenthood in the pandemic created a strong connection where I was able to hear the students’ worries and concerns, not simply about the calculus I taught but regarding their entire course structure, systemic biases affecting their experience of their degrees, and the approach of the university as a whole.

Academic, financial, and mental health stressors among undergraduates during pandemic

Since the Covid-19 outbreak began in December 2019, requirement for global curfews on a wide range of issues has emerged, limiting the interactions with one another. A self-administered cross-sectional questionnaire was developed to examine academic stressors, financial stressors, and mental health stressors among undergraduates during the early and later stages of the pandemic. The findings of the study indicated a significant impact of these stressors on the mental health of undergraduates during the pandemic. Majority of undergraduates’ were tested with COVID positive and are more effected with mental health stressors. The academic and financial stressors of the pandemic's later stage has been decreased compared to the early stage of the pandemic.