Texas colleges team up for mental health research
Eugene Bernard
The Signal
UHCL is joining forces with the University of Texas in an effort to assess the mental health of college students in a National Mental Health Survey.
The Research Consortium at the University of Texas is gathering data from different colleges around the country to get an idea of the mental health issues college students face. The Research Consortium was founded in 1990 under the headship of David Drum and Augustine Barón of University of Texas’s Counseling and Mental Health Center. Since 1990, five research endeavors have been completed.
“The focus of projects initiated by The National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education varies according to issues that are relevant for college students at the time of development.” said Elaine Hess, coordinator of the Research Consortium. “An exact replication of the current study may not occur again; however, in the current study we did have an interest in confirming our findings from the 2006 study, ‘The Nature of Suicidal Crises in College Students’.”
Currently, the sixth national mental health survey that UHCL is supporting, “Undergraduate and Graduate Students Coping with Stressful Experiences,” will examine student responses and ways of coping with stressful situations.
“Our primary goal is to understand the college student experience, and we aim to use these results to help campus leaders at UHCL understand how to best address the needs of students on campus,” Hess said.
The survey was launched March 3 and runs until the end of April. When launched, 1,000 students, 500 graduates and 500 undergraduates who accepted the invitation to participate, were randomly sent the survey.
“By UHCL joining a national research study, we can get the kind of response numbers that will result in really compelling data,” says Cynthia Cook, associate director for career and counseling services. “We wouldn’t be able to get enough responses to make a statistically sound study if we did it ourselves. UHCL taking part in such a survey allows the student’s voice to be heard and a direct benefit that participating students receive is they are entered into a drawing to win gift cards.”
Currently there are approximately 80 universities involved in this initiative. This will be the first time UHCL has participated in a study hosted by UT’s Research Consortium. Its content is compiled of demographical questions such as age, sex, relationship status, history of life experiences, as well as examples of ways people cope differently, and how the coping techniques mentioned apply to the student on a scale of 1 to 10. The survey also explores the student’s belongingness and social interaction with various organizations, whether on campus or within the student’s personal community.
“Given how variable turnaround time from study completion to publication is, estimating a publication date would be difficult,” Hess said. “Publication of this data will be advertised on several college mental health and suicide prevention channels, and UHCL’s local campus representative will be informed of the release of the primary publication.”
UHCL has currently implemented other creative ways to reach students regarding counseling. The career and counseling services visit approximately 80 or more classes per semester, encouraging students who may be experiencing mental health issues, to take advantage of their counseling services. Career Counseling Services also offers information about counseling in orientations, as well as educating students with outreach displays around campus highlighting awareness about mental health.
