Barriers and Opportunities: Examining Attitudes Toward Traditional and Mobile Health Services in a Non-Clinical Sample of Non-Hispanic White and Latino/a Undergraduates

Intimate Partner Violence and Openness to Online Counseling Among College Students

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent and has devastating consequences for college students. Online counseling (OC) may be a way to decrease barriers to help. This study seeks to determine openness to OC compared to face-to-face counseling (F2F) by examining: (1) How openness to OC varies depending on college students' personal and IPV characteristics and (2) How these characteristics vary compared to college non-IPV survivors. Two linear regressions were conducted using a sample from a cross sectional survey. First with the entire sample of college students (N = 1,518) to examine characteristics of those more open to OC and second with only those that identified as experiencing IPV (n = 1,211). The results demonstrated that IPV survivors are less open to OC than to F2F counseling (b = -.23, p < .01). For the model with all college students, those who were significantly more open to OC were female (b = -.39, p < .001), identified as LGBT (b = .23, p < .05), or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) (b = .26, p < .05), and had a physical health issue (b = -.19, p < .05). For the model that only analyzed IPV survivors, the same characteristics were shown to be significantly related to openness to OC. More research is needed to explore why IPV survivors are less open to OC compared to F2F counseling. Exploring why characteristics of female, LGBT, and physical health issues lead to openness to OC could help understand what barriers need to be addressed for wider use.

College Student Perspectives of Telemental Health: a Review of the Recent Literature

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

We review the recent literature regarding college student experiences with and attitudes toward telemental health (TMH). We examine their perspectives of the advantages and drawbacks to this form of mental healthcare and their willingness to engage in TMH.

RECENT FINDINGS

College students view TMH as convenient, accessible, easy to use, and helpful. TMH helps to overcome the barrier of stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment. Despite positive reviews, many students find a lack of customization or connection to the provider to be drawbacks to some forms of TMH. Willingness to engage in TMH varies based on prior experience with mental health treatment, ethnicity, and severity of symptoms. The recent literature highlights the potential for TMH to play a key role in mental health services for college students. It also highlights some of its shortcomings, which are indicative of the continued need for in-person services. Future studies should continue to track college student perspectives toward and utilization of TMH.

Mental Health-Related Digital Use by University Students: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Mental health problems are common among students at university, representing a major public health concern. The internet and new technologies are widely used by students and represent a significant resource to them for mental health information and support. Aim: The aim of this systematic review is to summarize and critique studies of mental health-related digital use (including purposes, advantages, and barriers) by students worldwide, to support the implementation of future digital mental health interventions targeting university students. Methods: We searched for peer-reviewed articles published between January 2008 and May 2018 by using Pubmed, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and SocINDEX. Studies were coded by author, year of publication, country, research design, recruitment and sampling, data collection, analysis method, key findings, and mean quality score. Outcomes were synthetized through the textual narrative synthesis method. Results: Of the 1,487 titles and abstracts screened, 24 articles were critically reviewed. Sample sizes ranged from 19 to 6,034 participants. The two key findings were that students worldwide have a high need for mental health information and are prepared to use digital tools for their mental health and well-being. However, they are currently struggling to discern trustworthy information online and are expressing a desire for reliable devices handling their sensitive data. Conclusions: Through the description of patterns in university students' mental health-related digital use, this review outlines important features for potential web- and mobile-based interventions for promoting mental health and preventing mental illness at the university.