Download or read book Towards an Understanding of College Student Distress Suicidality and Connectedness written by Andrea Katherine Saathoff and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suicide is a national problem and is the second leading cause of death among college students. The concern, however, does not rest solely for those students who seriously consider suicide, but also for those who struggle with distress and do not seek help. Scholars have called for suicide prevention efforts to take a population-based intervention approach, as the majority of campus counseling centers are under-resourced and overwhelmed with demand. Increasing connectedness on college campuses has been considered a key strategy for suicide prevention, as connectedness is linked to health and wellbeing and is also theorized to play an important role in preventing the desire for death. However, little is known about how connectedness manifests for college students and the ways in which connectedness is related to distress and suicidal thoughts. The current exploratory study builds upon existing research by examining the relationship between connectedness, distress, and suicidal thinking. More specifically, the study examines the extent to which connectedness protects students against the development of distress and suicidal thoughts. Moreover, it examines the relationship between gender, sexual orientation, and membership in student groups with connectedness, distress, and suicidal thoughts. This information contributes to a fuller understanding of the factors that may protect people from suicidal thoughts and improve campus suicide prevention efforts, with the aim of bolstering the mental health of the college community. The study uses archival data from a national survey of college student coping collected in 2011 by The National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education. Multiple and logistic regression were used to explore relationships between historical and demographic predictors, self-reported connectedness, distress, and suicidal thoughts during a stressful period. Results indicated that connectedness was negatively related to distress and suicidal thinking. Females endorsed lower connectedness and higher distress than males. Non-heterosexual students endorsed lower connectedness, higher distress, and higher odds of suicidal thinking compared to heterosexual students. Membership in student groups was related to higher connectedness and lower distress, differences were found in the types of groups of which students were members. Implications for population level campus interventions are discussed.
Download or read book College Student Growth After a Stressful Period written by Elizabeth Amanda Wilson Hentschel and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stakeholders in college student mental health have called for a shift in focus from disease to wellness. In response, researchers have exerted increasing effort exploring factors that foster and maintain mental health among this population. One such germane factor is posttraumatic growth (PTG). Researchers knowledgeable about this phenomenon posit that individuals can endure a subjectively traumatic experience, cope successfully with the effects of that trauma, and thereby function better than before the trauma. Although researchers have identified various dimensions of growth, they have acknowledged the sociocultural relativism of existing measures, suggesting the possibility of differential growth potential among diverse populations, as well as the possible existence of unidentified domains. In addition, according to the model most widely used to describe the PTG phenomenon, growth necessitates some level of distress. Distress and suicidality remain common experiences among college students, yet the effects of these, particularly suicidality, on growth potential remain unclear. While a burgeoning area of research, existing knowledge of PTG indicates that college life may be characterized by maximized potential for personal growth. Moreover, researchers have suggested PTG may relate positively to outcomes including perceived comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness of life; resourcing of social support and helpers; and appreciation for life. Researchers have called for exploratory analyses of PTG. The current study aimed to address persistent gaps in the literature through the analysis of data gathered from a national, multisite sample of diverse higher education students. The current study employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including content analysis and binary logistic regression analyses. Seventeen domains of growth were identified, and the relationship among demographic variables, distress and suicidality, and growth were tested to ascertain each independent variable’s effect on the likelihood of endorsing growth in each domain. Findings from this study illuminate the current understanding of growth among college students and have implications for prevention and outreach efforts promoting well-being among this population.
Download or read book Student Mental Health written by Laura Weiss Roberts, M.D., M.A. and published by American Psychiatric Pub. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The chapter authors address life transitions and the university student experience, as well as the challenges of caring for university students with mental health issues. The book has positive strategies, including ways to foster mental health for distinct university student populations.
Download or read book Mental Health Substance Use and Wellbeing in Higher Education written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2021-03-05 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Student wellbeing is foundational to academic success. One recent survey of postsecondary educators found that nearly 80 percent believed emotional wellbeing is a "very" or "extremely" important factor in student success. Studies have found the dropout rates for students with a diagnosed mental health problem range from 43 percent to as high as 86 percent. While dealing with stress is a normal part of life, for some students, stress can adversely affect their physical, emotional, and psychological health, particularly given that adolescence and early adulthood are when most mental illnesses are first manifested. In addition to students who may develop mental health challenges during their time in postsecondary education, many students arrive on campus with a mental health problem or having experienced significant trauma in their lives, which can also negatively affect physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. The nation's institutions of higher education are seeing increasing levels of mental illness, substance use and other forms of emotional distress among their students. Some of the problematic trends have been ongoing for decades. Some have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic consequences. Some are the result of long-festering systemic racism in almost every sphere of American life that are becoming more widely acknowledged throughout society and must, at last, be addressed. Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education lays out a variety of possible strategies and approaches to meet increasing demand for mental health and substance use services, based on the available evidence on the nature of the issues and what works in various situations. The recommendations of this report will support the delivery of mental health and wellness services by the nation's institutions of higher education.
Download or read book College Student Mental Health written by Heidi Levine and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-01-13 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, there has been heightened attention paid to the mental health needs of college students, the range and scope of these issues, and the challenges related to providing mental health services. Counseling center data, changing legal mandates and anecdotal reports from senior practitioners all point to the growing complexity of managing these issues. This volume examines clinical issues for student affairs professionals beyond the counseling center– addressing how campuses can be prepared for and respond to mental health issues. It helps readers cultivate a community-centered understanding of and sense of shared responsibility for promoting mental health, knowledge about best practices for service provision, and strategies for dealing with mental health issues pertaining to specific student populations and issues within the environment. Topics covered include: Contextual and foundational information related to current student mental health trends, Mental health aspects of certain populations including military-connected students, students on the autism spectrum, and international student, Bigger-picture, systemic issues related to mental health faced by colleges and universities, and Future directions of mental health on campuses. This is the 156th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.
Download or read book Preventing College Student Suicide written by Deborah J. Taub and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-03-21 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students. Further, one in ten college students has considered suicide in the past year. Experts have called for a comprehensive, systemic approach to campus suicide prevention that addresses both at-risk groups and the general campus population. Since 2005, 138 colleges and universities have received funding under the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act to develop and implement campus suicide prevention programs. This volume highlights successful strategies implemented by grantee campuses. These approaches can serve as models to address student suicide and prevention on other campuses. This is the 141st volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.
Download or read book Understanding and Preventing College Student Suicide written by Dorian A. Lamis and published by Charles C. Thomas Publisher. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book combines the efforts from several leaders in the field of suicidology in an attempt to grasp a better understanding of college student suicide.
Download or read book Perspectives on College Student Suicide written by Ralph L. V. Rickgarn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 1994 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work presents the subject of college student suicide in a somewhat different manner. With the words of college students as they speak, write and think about their suicidal experience, the author creates a group of three dimensional personages who pop-up from this two dimensional page and become real individuals who can heighten our awareness of the effect suicide has upon individuals and the campus as an entity.
Download or read book I m Fine written by Emily Kumpf and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-27 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 18-24. What is not always captured by this statistic is the strong emotional impact that suicide has on young people who are losing peers, friends, partners, and siblings to suicide and mental health issues. We are in a mental health crisis. There needs to be a change in the way we approach suicide and mental health, particularly on college campuses. But where do we start? I'm Fine: A Student Perspective on Suicide and Mental Health on College Campuses takes an in-depth look into what schools can be doing right now to positively impact the well-being of their students. In this book, Emily Kumpf shares perspectives, including her own personal mental health battles as well as detailed research and insights from nearly 20 leaders across the country who dedicate their lives to preventing suicide and promoting mental health. At its core, I'm Fine helps to decrease stigma, break stereotypes, provide psycho education, and increase conversations around mental health, enabling students to answer the question "How are you doing?" with more than a cursory "I'm Fine." Kumpf provides a framework and solutions to suicide prevention and improved student mental health that university leaders can incorporate on their campuses. This book can change your life, the life of a loved one, and the lives of college students across the world.
Download or read book Promoting Behavioral Health and Reducing Risk among College Students written by M. Dolores Cimini and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-06-14 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Promoting Behavioral Health and Reducing Risk Among College Students synthesizes the large body of research on college students’ behavioral health and offers guidance on applying evidence-based prevention and early intervention strategies using a comprehensive public health framework. Chapters authored by leading researchers and practitioners address a broad spectrum of important behavioral health issues, interventions, and challenges. Moving beyond a theoretical discussion to strategies for implementation, this book addresses the special issues and potential barriers faced by practitioners as they translate research to practice, such as resource limitations, organizational resistance, challenges to program sustainability, and the unique needs of special populations. This cutting-edge compendium will appeal to both practitioners and researchers involved in providing prevention, early intervention, and treatment services for college students.
Download or read book College Student Suicide written by Jennifer Kathleen Rice and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: College suicide rates are stable, but up to 10% of students experience suicidal ideation each year, and most do not access mental health services. Little is known about campus mental health service structure and delivery. In a mixed model, quantitative-to-qualitative design, this study examined the link between suicidal ideation, mental health service use, and suicide attempt using archival survey data of over 25,000 college students from 70 campuses, collected in 2006 by the UT Austin-based National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education. Survey respondents had lower levels of 12-month suicidal ideation (6%) than typical national rates, and almost half of those with ideation had accessed mental health services. The quantitative analysis included multiple psychosocial and demographic variables known to affect suicide risk - an extension of prior college suicide research. Bivariate and regression tests of association found that several health service variables, for example seeing a counselor, were significantly associated with higher rates of suicide attempt. This seemingly counter-intuitive finding was mostly driven by a group of "high reactors"--Students with both significant distress and a higher tendency to access services. The qualitative analysis sought to expand knowledge of what resources students use to cope with ideation, including formal healthcare or informal sources of support, and how this differed on two variables: whether students had accessed services and whether they had made a suicide attempt. Survey respondents' open-ended descriptions of what they found helpful or unhelpful during their suicidal crises were analyzed for common themes. Social support from friends and loved ones was more often reported by service users than non-service users, and was associated with lower attempt rates. Social interaction increased attempt rates if students described receiving unhelpful feedback, such as shaming or minimization of their emotional state, and this risk was greater for those students who also did not see any mental health provider. Another common theme that was associated with lower suicide attempt rates, regardless of service use, was the use of coping behaviors and skills, such as talking problems through with a friend. These findings suggest areas of focus for future research and intervention; for example, mental health providers can guide students in recruiting appropriate social support. This study contributes to the understanding of how and whether suicidal students utilize campus mental health services and other sources of support, which is needed for guiding policy on suicide prevention efforts and directing future research on service effectiveness. Campus-level variables were also examined for differences in suicidal behaviors and service use, with few differences found across the 70 campuses.
Download or read book Nou Tout Pa Menm written by Shernell Elibox and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: College aged students have one of the highest rates of suicidality, however, research on suicidality often negates the experiences of college students of color. The sample included 122,465 college students of color and explored the relationship between suicidality and variables such as academic distress, clinician initial assessment of suicidality, current financial status, family distress, family support, outcome suicide self-report, distress index at the start and end of treatment, past financial status, prior mental health hospitalization, social support, suicide attempt and initial self-report of suicide. Data analysis included chi square, t tests, binary logistic regression and wilcox signed ranks test. The results indicated that there was a relationship between prior hospitalization for mental health and suicidality at the start of treatment. However, there was no effect of prior hospitalization and client report of suicidal ideation in the past two weeks. The results also revealed that there exists a relationship between academic distress, family distress, substance use and overall psychological distress and having made a suicide attempt in the past year. The study also revealed a relationship between family support and current financial status on suicidality but no such relationship between social support and past financial status among college students of color. Finally, the study found that clinician endorsement of suicide as a primary presenting concern had no effect on treatment outcomes. suicidality and overall distress decreased for all clients despite clinician endorsement. An exploration of study findings, limitations and implications for the field are discussed.
Download or read book Using Sense of Coherence to Understand Suicidality Among American Indian and Alaska Native College Students written by Sarah Kathleen Christman and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) young adult population consistently experiences the highest suicide rate of all ethnic groups in the United States. Unlike other groups, whose suicide rates peak in middle age, suicide among AI/ANs is most common among college-aged individuals. Previous research focusing on suicide among AI/AN populations is limited in its scope and has focused almost exclusively on reservation-based individuals, despite that the vast majority of AI/ANs now live in urban areas. Examining the experience of suicidality among urban AI/AN young people may contribute to a developed understanding of how to prevent suicide among this unique and unstudied population. As such, this dissertation sought to address the gaps in current knowledge of factors that influence suicidality among urban AI/AN college students. Using multiple linear regression analyses, the current study explored the prevalence of distress and suicidality among this group, as well as the prevalence and importance of common suicide risk factors. Additionally, the protective nature of certain malleable psychological factors, including sense of coherence and mental health, was examined. Results indicated that AI/AN participants had significantly higher rates of distress and suicidality as compared to participants of other races. Additionally, it was found that childhood exposure to familial stressors and abuse were important predictors of distress and suicidality and that similar racial disparities in such exposure exist among urban AI/ANs as is true for reservation-based populations. Sense of coherence and mental health were also strong predictors of distress and suicidality but were unable to buffer against the risk that one acquires through increased exposure to adversity. The current study provides important directions for future research as well as implications for suicide prevention among urban AI/ANs that capitalize on the strength and resilience of this population
Download or read book Understanding Suicide and Applying Current Research to Prevent College Student Suicide written by Kristin Alexis Smart and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suicide is a leading cause of death around the world and is on the rise. Suicide is considered to be the second leading cause of death for college students, (Drum, Brownson, Denmark, & Smith, 2009) and the rate of suicide completion is between 6.5 and 7.5 per 100,000 students (Silverman, Meyer, Sloane, Raffel, & Pratt, 1997). Not only are completed suicides an issue on college campuses, but suicidal thoughts and ideation are extremely prominent in this population as well. Approximately 50 percent of college students report having considered suicide at some point in their lives. 18 percent of undergraduate students and 15 percent of graduate students report having seriously considered attempting suicide with 40 to 50 percent of those students reporting multiple episodes of suicidal thought. (Drum et al., 2009). This report will look at the warning signs and risk factors for suicidal ideation and attempts, theories of suicidality, reasons students do not seek treatment, motivations or events that lead to attempting or committing suicide, the most common methods, protective factors against suicide, and finally current and future prevention methods on college campuses.
Download or read book The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide written by Thomas E. Joiner and published by American Psychological Association (APA). This book was released on 2009 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a theoretical framework for diagnosis and risk assessment of a patient's entry into the world of suicidality, and for the creation of preventive and public-health campaigns aimed at the disorder. The book also provides clinical guidelines for crisis intervention and therapeutic alliances in psychotherapy and suicide prevention.
Download or read book Reducing Suicide written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-10-01 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every year, about 30,000 people die by suicide in the U.S., and some 650,000 receive emergency treatment after a suicide attempt. Often, those most at risk are the least able to access professional help. Reducing Suicide provides a blueprint for addressing this tragic and costly problem: how we can build an appropriate infrastructure, conduct needed research, and improve our ability to recognize suicide risk and effectively intervene. Rich in data, the book also strikes an intensely personal chord, featuring compelling quotes about people's experience with suicide. The book explores the factors that raise a person's risk of suicide: psychological and biological factors including substance abuse, the link between childhood trauma and later suicide, and the impact of family life, economic status, religion, and other social and cultural conditions. The authors review the effectiveness of existing interventions, including mental health practitioners' ability to assess suicide risk among patients. They present lessons learned from the Air Force suicide prevention program and other prevention initiatives. And they identify barriers to effective research and treatment. This new volume will be of special interest to policy makers, administrators, researchers, practitioners, and journalists working in the field of mental health.
Download or read book The Influence of Meaning in Life on the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Suicidality written by Ashley Ellen Boynton and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently, researchers and college stakeholders have called for suicide prevention initiatives that move beyond intervention at the individual level and address the mental health of the college student population as a whole. In an effort to inform those interventions, it is of value to identify risk and protective factors that may influence a student’s likelihood to develop distressed and suicidal thoughts. Perfectionistic concerns (i.e., a perceived discrepancy between self and standards) have been identified as putting students at risk for distressed and suicidal thoughts. Studies of the relationship between perfectionistic standards (i.e., striving to meet high standards) and mental health outcomes have yielded mixed results. Presence of meaning in life has been identified as a factor that is protective against distressed and suicidal thoughts, whereas the search for meaning is often linked to negative mental health outcomes. Using archival data from a national survey collected in 2016 by the National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education, the current study sought to further investigate these risk and protective factors by determining whether either dimension of meaning in life might influence the relationship between perfectionism (in both its adaptive and maladaptive forms) and the continuum of distress and suicidality. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to investigate the aforementioned relationships. Results indicated that neither having a sense of meaning, nor searching for meaning, played a significant role in influencing the associations between perfectionism and the distress and suicidality continuum. Results identified both perfectionistic concerns and searching for meaning as potential variables that place students at risk for progressing along the continuum of distress and suicidality, whereas the presence of meaning in life was identified as a factor that may protect against a student’s progression along that continuum. Results did not support a relationship between perfectionistic standards and the distress and suicidality continuum. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of population-based programming that could be introduced on college campuses to reduce the likelihood that a student would enter onto, and progress along, the continuum of distressed and suicidal thoughts.
