Collaborative Research: Research: Stigma of mental health conditions in engineering and its relationship with help-seeking attitudes of undergraduates and early professionals

过去十年，大学生的心理健康需求有所增加，抑郁症、恐慌症和广泛性焦虑症等心理健康状况（MHC）的患病率不断增加。对MHCs的污名化是一种强烈的不认同感，是一个社会性的问题，往往与MHCs患者的求助态度相冲突。众所周知，工程学是一个要求很高的领域，在这个领域往往提倡高度压力和耐力的文化，对社会化有具体的挑战，特别是对边缘化群体的成员。这些因素往往与MHC的发生和持续存在有关。然而，众所周知，虽然工程专业的学生没有较高的MHC患病率，但那些有MHC的学生比其他专业的学生更不容易寻求帮助。本项目将探讨工程文化的元素，可能会加强对MHCs的污名化的看法，从而限制学生和早期的专业人士寻求帮助的能力，当他们需要it.This研究将探讨学生和早期的专业人士的经验，了解工程文化的元素，影响他们的内化的耻辱，兴趣了解MHCs，并帮助他人的能力。项目团队将关注学生与教师和管理人员等其他参与者的互动，以探索有关MHC的信念如何在工程教育空间中得以延续。这项研究有可能带来有价值的见解专业文化，以及他们如何与流行和管理的MHCs，如关键的动态，上下文和互动，可能会促进MHCs的负面看法，本项目的目标是确定工程文化的影响因素的MHCs的耻辱，从而影响学生和早期专业人士的求助态度。这将通过一项为期三年的纵向顺序混合方法研究来实现。每年，将通过使用既定工具进行的调查，定量测量对MHCs的污名化与求助态度之间的关系。第一年的调查结果将根据最大可变性的原则进行分析，以告知我们的纵向多案例研究，该研究将使用主题和叙事分析。纵向定量分析将研究所考虑的关系，通过参与者的工程培训和过渡到专业生活的多年来的演变，以及他们是如何调节他们的特点，工程文化，工程身份和归属感的看法。这种纵向方法将探讨重要的过渡点，工程专业的学生离开学术空间，从事他们的第一次专业经验及其对他们的心理健康的影响。研究设计还将使没有MHC的学生的观点如何随着时间的推移而演变的研究成为可能。由于MHC可以在生活中的任何时候发展，大学生活中的许多元素，包括那些特定于工程训练的元素，都与不良的心理健康结果有关，因此该项目的结果有可能从学习和实践工程中确定可能有助于MHC发病的元素。项目结果将有助于通过全面描述学生和早期专业人员与MHC所经历的挑战来促进工程的公平和包容。由于工程专业的学生和其他边缘化身份的专业人士更有可能经历MHC，项目结果将有可能说明这些群体所面临的具体挑战。与全国精神疾病联盟（NAMI）的合作伙伴关系将使全国范围内的观众和大学外，将通过他们的一些既定的倡议得到支持。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

The last decade has seen a rise in the mental health needs of college students, with an increasing prevalence of Mental Health Conditions (MHCs) such as depression, panic disorders, and generalized anxiety among many others. Stigma, a strong feeling of disapproval, of MHCs is a society-wide issue that tends to conflict with help-seeking attitudes of those having MHCs. Engineering is known as a demanding field, where a culture of high stress and endurance is often promoted, with specific challenges to socialization, especially for members of marginalized groups. These factors tend to be linked to the onset and persistence of MHCs. Nevertheless, it is known that while engineering students do not have a higher prevalence of MHCs, those that have them are less prone to seek help than those in other professional areas. This project will explore elements of the engineering culture that may reinforce stigmatized views of MHCs, therefore limiting the ability of students and early professionals to seek help when they need it. This study will explore the experiences of students and early professionals to understand elements of the engineering culture that influence their internalized stigma, interest to learn about MHCs, and ability to help others. The project team will pay attention to students' interactions with other actors such as faculty and administrators to explore how the beliefs about MHCs are perpetuated in engineering education spaces. This study has the potential to bring valuable insights into professional cultures and how they interact with the prevalence and management of MHCs, such as key dynamics, contexts, and interactions that might promote negative views of MHCs.The goal of this project is to identify elements of engineering culture that influence the stigma of MHCs and consequently affect the help-seeking attitudes of students and early professionals. This will be achieved through a three-year longitudinal sequential mixed methods study. Each year the relationship between the stigma of MHCs and help-seeking attitudes will be measured quantitatively through a survey with established instruments. The results of the first-year survey will be analyzed under the principles of maximum variability to inform our longitudinal multi-case study that will use thematic and narrative analyses. The longitudinal quantitative analysis will examine the evolution of the considered relationships through the years of the participants’ engineering training and transition to professional life, and how they are moderated by their characteristics, perceptions of engineering culture, engineering identity, and sense of belonging. This longitudinal approach will explore the important transition point where engineering students leave academic spaces to engage in their first professional experiences and its impact on their mental well being. The research design will also enable the study of how the outlook of students without MHCs evolves through time. Since MHCs can develop at any point in life and many elements of college life, including those specific to engineering training, have been linked to poor mental health outcomes, the result of this project have the potential to identify elements from learning and practicing engineering that could contribute to the onset of MHCs. Project results will contribute to advancing equity and inclusion in engineering through the comprehensive description of the challenges experienced by students and early professionals with MHCs. Since engineering students and professionals with other marginalized identities in engineering are more likely to experience MHCs, project results will have the potential to illustrate the specific challenges navigated by such groups. A partnership with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) will enable a national reach of audiences in and out universities that will be supported through some of their established initiatives.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.