New research suggests that one of the factors influencing students’ mental health at university may be their experiences during their time at school.
The Student Mental Health Crisis: A fresh perspective, by researchers in partnership with charity Health Action Campaign, found correlations between students’ experiences while still at school or college and aspects of their reported mental wellbeing at university.
In a pilot study with an anonymous sample of first year students at the University of Greenwich, King’s College London, and Ulster University, students were more likely to report stress/anxiety at university where they considered their school or college “hadn’t provided a good preparation for university”.
Where students had spent more non-study time online during their A Level years they were three times as likely to “often or always” feel lonely at university.
Dr Oliver Robinson, Associate Professor of Psychology at Greenwich says: “This report is an important contribution to understanding the student mental health crisis. It presents findings that suggest the issues driving mental health problems in students may not only relate to university, but also to a range of other socio-cultural factors that are present before university, such as school environment and social media.”
More here: https://www.healthactioncampaign.org.uk/assets/documents/student-mental-health-a-fres
