Change in Academic Distress: Examining Differences Between a Clinical and Nonclinical Sample of College Students

Psychological Counseling among University Students Worldwide: A Systematic Review

University counseling services (UCSs) are actively involved in mental health assessment and in supplying interventions aimed at preventing, facing and possibly overcoming psychological problems. However, we do not have a global overview of psychological counseling among universities. This systematic review aims at reviewing the literature on university psychological counseling, including articles documenting: (1) mental health and attitudes regarding help-seeking behaviors and UCSs among university students or counselors, (2) the description of protocols/services among UCSs, (3) the efficacy of psychological counseling/interventions among university students (both face-to-face and internet-delivered interventions). The study followed PRISMA guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO. After defining inclusion and exclusion criteria, a literature search was conducted, identifying 7085 records. Finally, 152 articles met the review eligibility criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Results are divided into seven thematic topics that emerged during the analysis of the literature. The results mainly showed that face-to-face and web-based counseling/psychological interventions improve university students' mental health. Cross-sectional studies showed that many biases exist toward help-seeking behaviors, especially among international students. Both students and counselors must strive to overcome cultural barriers. Available resources for UCSs are scarce and need to be strengthened, as well as efficacy studies through randomized clinical trials.

Factors affecting the utilization of mental health services among undergraduate students in a Nigerian University

Under-utilization of mental health services among university students is a major public health concern. This study assessed the factors affecting the utilization of mental health services among undergraduate students.

This research was a cross-sectional survey carried out among students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and multi-stage sampling technique was used in sampling the participants. Utilization, attitude, and health seeking behavior were categorized into good (≥50% score), and poor (<50% score), while social support was categorized into poor (8–18), moderate (19–25), and strong (26–32). Chi-square test and Logistic regression were used to assess the relationship between the categorical variables.

450 students enrolled in this study of which 52.4% were females and mean age of 19.40 ± 1.65 years. Most students showed a good attitude (87.5%), health seeking behavior (67.8%), and poor social support (69.4%) towards mental health services. There was an association between source of information (p = 0.005), health seeking behavior (p = 0.001) and utilization of mental health services. There was also a higher likelihood for students of female gender (OR: 1.621 (1.072–2.452)) and being aged above 20 years (OR: 1.331 (0.822–2.153)) to have good utilization of mental health services.

Majority of the students showed good attitude and health seeking behavior towards mental health services but there was poor utilization as well as poor to moderate social support towards mental health services. Gender, age, attitude, source of information as well as health seeking behavior are important factors that can affect the utilization of mental health services among undergraduate students. Interventions targeted towards these factors should be done to ultimately improve utilization of mental health services among undergraduate students.

Predicting future courses of psychotherapy within a grouped LASSO framework

Objective: There is a paucity of studies examining the experience of clients who undergo multiple courses of psychotherapy. Conducted within a large practice research network, this study demonstrated that returning therapy clients comprise a considerable portion of the clinical population in university counseling settings, and identified variables associated with return to therapy. Method: Utilizing data spanning 2013 to 2017, statistical variable selection for predicting return to therapy was conducted via grouped least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (grouped LASSO) applied to logistic regression. The grouped LASSO approach is described in detail to facilitate learning and replication. The paper also addresses methodological considerations related to this approach, such as sample size, generalizability, as well as general strengths and limitations. Results: Attendance rate, duration of initial treatment course, social anxiety, perceived social support, academic distress, and alcohol use were identified as predictive of return to therapy. Conclusions: Findings could help inform more cost-effective policies for session limits (e.g., extending session limits for clients with social anxiety), referral decisions (e.g., for clients with alcohol use problems), and appointment reminders (based on the association between poor attendance rate and return to therapy). Taking into account the many reasons that can explain why clients do or do not return to therapy, these findings also could inform clinicians' early case conceptualizations and treatment interventions.

Detecting and Managing Mental Health Issues within Young Adults. A Systematic Review on College Counselling in Italy

Background:

College counselling can be considered as a front-line service in detecting and managing mental health issues within young adults. In this sense, it is important to investigate the effectiveness of counselling interventions.

Objective:

To provide a systematic review about college counselling in Italy; to assess which psychological interventions really meet student needs, and their effectiveness; to focus on the level of cohesion between Italian counselling services and the international guidelines about college counselling.

Method:

A systematic review about college counselling through PsycInfo and PubMed was carried out. Because of the scarceness of pertinent available articles, the survey was extended to Google Scholar and Riviste Web. Keywords: counselling, mental health, wellbeing, psychological support, university, students, Italy.

Results:

Out of thirty-four articles retrieved, 16 are relevant to academic counselling, the other 18 have been considered not pertinent to the aim of the present review. Data show a lack of homogeneity in methodology and organization between each University: different approaches towards students’ needs. Furthermore, no follow-up studies or measurement of effectiveness were found.

Conclusion:

This review is a contribution to disseminate the results of counselling experiences in Italy and represents an effort to encourage colleagues working in a web environment to share results and methods for a more organized protocol application.

Development and Cross-Cultural Validation of the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms–Thai Version

This study examined the applicability of the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS), a psychological assessment instrument that is widely used with college students in the United States, to the college student population in Thailand. Following the procedures of translation and back-translation, the Thai version of the CCAPS (CCAPS-Thai) was developed. A total sample of 1,259 college students recruited from seven colleges and universities in four different regions of Thailand completed the CCAPS-Thai along with several carefully selected scales. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a six-factor model. Findings also provided preliminary evidence for adequate internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and convergent validity of the CCAPS-Thai. Implications are discussed based on the mental health issues and cultural context of college students in Thailand.