Peer support for university mental health

包括皇家精神病学家学院(2011)和高等教育政策研究所(2016)在内的组织都对大学生的心理健康提出了担忧。报告困境的学生数量正在上升(Neves&Hillman，2017)，对专业支持服务的需求也在上升(就业研究所，2015)。据怀疑，只有不到三分之一的报告遭遇困境的学生得到了支持(Wadman等人，2019年)。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；它将使赤字模式永久化，并维持这样一种假设，即精神健康问题的解决方案取决于个人的自愿范围。提倡一种基于环境的方法，考虑整个机构的心理健康(例如，英国大学，2017年和学生心理，2018年)。基于环境的“有机”模型假定，虽然健康问题主要存在于更广泛的系统中，但解决办法在于构成整体的众多日常过程和做法(Whitehead等人，2001年)。这种方法有利于基层参与(Muntaner等人，2000年)，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”的方法。将有相似经历的学生聚集在一起分享知识以实现互惠互利，预计将使人们能够给予和接受帮助(Mead，Hilton，&Curtis，2001)，并减少孤独(所罗门，2004)，建立一种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，同伴支持建立社区弹性。虽然已经有针对个别学生的干预措施的有效性的广泛研究，如认知行为疗法，但在更全面的方法(What Works Well Well，即将出版)的数据中存在实质性的缺口。治疗抑郁症的同行方案已被证明能显著减少抑郁症状，并表现出专业主导的干预效果，而且明显好于未治疗的情况(Bryan&Arkowitz，2015；Pfeiffer等人，2011)。该项目将评估这些发现是否在大学生中重复。该项目将与我们的慈善合作伙伴学生心灵合作，评估同伴支持小组对抑郁症状的疗效，比较参与和不参与小组活动的学生的结果。还将监测那些开始分组但随后退学的学生的结果。定性研究，以建立对同伴支持的影响的更深层次的理解，将其作为一种以环境为基础的有机方法。

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.