Peer support for university mental health

大学心理健康的同伴支持

• 批准号: 2471861
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: King's College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2471861
• 关键词: Peer; support; university; mental; health

Organisations including the Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011) and the Higher Education Policy Institute (2016) have raised concerns about the mental health of university students. The number of students reporting distress is rising (Neves & Hillman, 2017), as is demand for professional support services (Institute for Employment Studies, 2015). It is suspected that less than a third of students who report experiencing distress are receiving support (Wadman et al., 2019).Policy makers recognise that expanding professional support is not a viable solution; it would perpetuate a deficit model and maintain the assumption that the solution to mental health problems rests within the voluntary scope of the individual. A settings-based approach, that considered mental health across the whole institution has been advocated (e.g., Universities UK, 2017 and Student Minds, 2018). An 'organic' settings-based model takes the assumption that while health problems predominantly seen to lie within the wider system, the solution lies in the multitude of day-to-day processes and practices that constitute the whole (Whitehead et al., 2001). This approach favours grassroots participation (Muntaner et al., 2000), where activity focuses on strengthening collective participation and action (Beattie, 1987). Peer support can be conceptualised as an 'organic' approach. Bringing together students with similar experiences to share knowledge for mutual benefit, is expected to allow people to give and receive help (Mead, Hilton, & Curtis, 2001) and reduce loneliness (Solomon, 2004), building the form of social support that is protective against the development of depression (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). By supporting non-professionals to develop skills to foster better mental health, peer support builds community resilience.While there has been extensive research into the efficacy of interventions focused on the individual student, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, there are substantive gaps in the data for more holistic approaches (What Works Wellbeing, forthcoming). Peer run programmes for depression have been shown to produce significant reductions in depressive symptoms and perform as well as professional-led interventions and significantly better than no-treatment conditions (Bryan & Arkowitz, 2015; Pfeiffer et al., 2011). This project will assess whether these findings replicate among university students. Working with our charity partner, Student Minds, the project will evaluate the efficacy of peer support groups for depressive symptoms, comparing outcomes for students who do and do not engage with groups. Outcomes will also be monitored for students who start groups but subsequently drop out. Qualitative research to build a deeper understanding of the impact of peer support as an 'organic' settings-based approach.

包括皇家精神病学家学院（2011）和高等教育政策研究所（2016）在内的组织对大学生的心理健康表示担忧。报告遇到困难的学生数量正在增加（Neves & Hillman，2017），对专业支持服务的需求也在增加（就业研究学院，2015）。据怀疑，只有不到三分之一的报告遇到困难的学生正在接受支持（Wadman 等人，2019）。政策制定者认识到，扩大专业支持并不是一个可行的解决方案；它将延续赤字模式，并维持这样的假设：心理健康问题的解决取决于个人的自愿范围。人们提倡采用基于环境的方法，考虑整个机构的心理健康（例如，Universities UK，2017 年和 Student Minds，2018 年）。基于“有机”环境的模型假设，虽然健康问题主要存在于更广泛的系统中，但解决方案在于构成整体的众多日常流程和实践（Whitehead 等，2001）。这种方法有利于基层参与（Muntaner 等，2000），其中活动的重点是加强集体参与和行动（Beattie，1987）。同伴支持可以被概念化为一种“有机”方法。将具有相似经历的学生聚集在一起，分享知识以实现互惠互利，预计将允许人们给予和接受帮助（Mead，Hilton，＆Curtis，2001）并减少孤独感（Solomon，2004），建立防止抑郁症发展的社会支持形式（Hunt＆Eisenberg，2010）。通过支持非专业人士发展技能以促进更好的心理健康，同伴支持可以增强社区的复原力。虽然对针对个体学生的干预措施（例如认知行为疗法）的功效进行了广泛的研究，但在更全面的方法方面，数据方面存在实质性差距（What Works Wellbeing，即将出版）。同伴开展的抑郁症项目已被证明可以显着减少抑郁症状，其效果与专业主导的干预措施一样好，并且明显优于不治疗的情况（Bryan & Arkowitz，2015；Pfeiffer 等，2011）。该项目将评估这些发现是否在大学生中得到复制。该项目与我们的慈善合作伙伴 Student Minds 合作，将评估同伴支持小组对抑郁症状的功效，比较参与和不参与小组活动的学生的结果。还将监测开始小组但随后退出的学生的结果。定性研究旨在更深入地了解同伴支持作为一种“有机”的基于环境的方法的影响。