Research Initiation: Development of a Survey Instrument to Identify Mental Health Related Help-Seeking Beliefs in Engineering Students

研究启动：开发一种调查工具来识别工科学生与心理健康相关的求助信念

• 批准号: 2024394
• 负责人: Sarah Wilson
• 金额: $ 19.99万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2024394&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Initiation; Development; Survey; Instrument

The prevalence of mental health problems on college campuses is of increasing concern. While the issue is not unique to the engineering student population, national data show that engineering students are significantly less likely than other students to seek professional help. Additionally, mental health concerns persist past graduation, with engineers among the top five occupations with the highest suicide rate. To better understand the root cause of this problem, the beliefs that influence engineering students’ decisions to seek or not seek help for a mental health concern must be identified. This fundamental study will develop a survey instrument to measure the beliefs that affect engineering undergraduate students’ decisions to seek help. Identification of the beliefs that predict students’ mental health related help-seeking behaviors will enable researchers to develop targeted intervention strategies that reduce barriers to mental health related help-seeking. Reshaping engineering identity to be supportive of mental health related help-seeking could increase success and retention of at-risk students. Furthermore, increased willingness to seek help could improve individuals’ mental health beyond graduation, resulting in a more resilient and persistent engineering workforce.This project will address the issue of mental health in engineering through a theoretically grounded, foundational study of engineering students’ beliefs about seeking help for mental health-related concerns. The project will answer two key research questions: 1) What are engineering students’ mental health related help-seeking beliefs? 2) How can researchers assess these beliefs via a self-report survey instrument? The project will utilize the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM), an empirically supported social scientific framework that can be applied to identify beliefs that influence behavior within a given population. A central component of the IBM is the use of qualitative interviews, which will be used to identify key beliefs that influence engineering students’ mental health related help-seeking. Thus, this project will first identify the beliefs held by undergraduate engineers through interviews with a diverse (e.g., major, year of study, gender, race/ethnicity) group of students. Qualitative coding and thematic analysis will identify emergent themes and beliefs. These data will be used to develop a survey instrument to measure help-seeking beliefs quantitatively. This instrument will reflect the student perspectives and norms developed through the engineering formation process. The instrument will undergo iterative pilot testing to ensure reliability, validity, and clarity for diverse engineering students. Additionally, key beliefs associated with help-seeking intentions will be identified. The core product of the project will be a comprehensive research instrument useful for identifying mental health related help-seeking beliefs in engineering students. Large scale implementation of this research instrument will allow for identification of key beliefs that can be targeted with intervention strategies to improve mental health related help-seeking in undergraduate engineering students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

大学校园中普遍存在的心理健康问题日益引起人们的关注。虽然这个问题并非工程专业学生所独有，但全国数据显示，工程专业学生寻求专业帮助的可能性明显低于其他学生。此外，毕业后心理健康问题依然存在，工程师是自杀率最高的五种职业之一。为了更好地理解这个问题的根本原因，必须确定影响工科学生决定是否寻求心理健康问题帮助的信念。这项基础研究将开发一种调查工具来衡量影响工程本科生寻求帮助决定的信念。确定预测学生心理健康相关寻求帮助行为的信念将使研究人员能够制定有针对性的干预策略，以减少心理健康相关寻求帮助的障碍。重塑工程身份以支持与心理健康相关的寻求帮助可以提高高危学生的成功率和保留率。此外，寻求帮助的意愿增强可以改善个人毕业后的心理健康，从而培养出更具弹性和持久性的工程队伍。该项目将通过对工程专业学生关于寻求心理健康相关问题帮助的信念进行有理论依据的基础研究来解决工程领域的心理健康问题。该项目将回答两个关键研究问题：1）工科学生的心理健康相关的求助信念是什么？ 2）研究人员如何通过自我报告调查工具评估这些信念？该项目将利用综合行为模型（IBM），这是一个基于经验的社会科学框架，可用于识别影响特定人群行为的信念。 IBM 的一个核心组成部分是使用定性访谈，它将用于确定影响工程专业学生心理健康相关寻求帮助的关键信念。因此，该项目将首先通过采访不同的学生群体（例如专业、学习年份、性别、种族/民族）来确定本科生工程师所持有的信念。定性编码和主题分析将识别新出现的主题和信念。这些数据将用于开发一种调查工具来定量测量寻求帮助的信念。该工具将反映学生在工程形成过程中形成的观点和规范。该仪器将进行迭代试点测试，以确保不同工程专业学生的可靠性、有效性和清晰度。此外，还将确定与寻求帮助意图相关的关键信念。该项目的核心产品将是一个综合研究工具，可用于识别工科学生与心理健康相关的求助信念。该研究工具的大规模实施将有助于识别关键信念，这些信念可以作为干预策略的目标，以改善工程本科生心理健康相关的求助。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Investigating mental health distress and help-seeking perceptions in first-year engineering students

调查一年级工科学生的心理健康困扰和寻求帮助的看法

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ASEE annual conference exposition
• 作者: Armstrong, I.;Dailey, D.;Wilder, K.;Blackburn-Lynch, W.;Hammer, J.H.;Wilson, S.A.
• 通讯作者: Wilson, S.A.

“It's very important to my professors…at least most of them”: How messages from engineering faculty and staff influence student beliefs around seeking help for their mental health.

“这对我的教授们来说非常重要……至少对他们中的大多数人来说”：工程教职员工的信息如何影响学生寻求心理健康帮助的信念。

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: American Society for Engineering Education
• 作者: Ban, N.;Mensah, L.O.;Whitwer, M.;Hargis, L.E.;Wright, C.J.;Hammer, J.H.;Wilson, S.A.
• 通讯作者: Wilson, S.A.

Identifying common perceived stressors and stress-relief strategies among undergraduate engineering students

识别工程本科生常见的感知压力源和减压策略

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ASEE annual conference exposition
• 作者: Ban, N.;Shannon, H.;Wright, C.J.;Miller, M.E.;Hargis, L.E.;Usher, E.L.;Hammer, J.H.;Wilson, S.A.
• 通讯作者: Wilson, S.A.

Identifying mental health related help-seeking beliefs in undergraduate engineers

识别本科工程师与心理健康相关的求助信念

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ASEE annual conference exposition
• 作者: Miller, M.E.;Wright, C.J.;Hargis, L.E.;Usher, E.L.;Hammer, J.H.;Wilson, S.A.
• 通讯作者: Wilson, S.A.