What Stresses University Students: An Interview Investigation of the Demands of Tertiary Studies

Effectiveness of physical activity interventions on undergraduate students' mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effectiveness of physical activity interventions on undergraduate students' mental health. Seven databases were searched and a total of 59 studies were included. Studies with a comparable control group were meta-analysed, and remaining studies were narratively synthesized. The included studies scored very low GRADE and had a high risk of bias. Meta-analyses indicated physical activity interventions are effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety (n = 20, standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.88, 95% CI [-1.23, -0.52]), depression (n = 14, SMD = -0.73, 95% CI [-1.00, -0.47]) and stress (n = 10, SMD = -0.61, 95% CI [-0.94, -0.28]); however, there was considerable heterogeneity (anxiety, I2 = 90.29%; depression I2 = 49.66%; stress I2 = 86.97%). The narrative synthesis had mixed findings. Only five studies reported being informed by a behavioural change theory and only 30 reported intervention fidelity. Our review provides evidence supporting the potential of physical activity interventions in enhancing the mental health of undergraduate students. More robust intervention design and implementation are required to better understand the effectiveness of PA interventions on mental health outcomes.

Maladaptive perfectionism, daily hassles, and depressive symptoms among first-year college students in China

Objective: Attending college involves a stressful period of adaptation for many first-year college students. The aim of the current study was to better understand the relationship among maladaptive perfectionism, daily hassles, and depressive symptoms. Participants: The sample comprised 454 Chinese first-year college students. Methods: All participants completed a battery of questionnaires including the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, the Chinese College Student Psychological Stress Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Results: Conflicts with roommates, forming the bad habits, and difficulties in learning were the top three stressful daily hassles. Maladaptive perfectionism predicts daily hassles, which in turn predicts depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Maladaptive perfectionism asserts its effects on depressive symptoms of first-year college students experiencing minor events on a daily basis. Implications for school educators and counselors and directions of future research are also discussed.

The Resilience Journal: Exploring the Potential of Journal Interventions to Promote Resilience in University Students

Given the prevalence of mental health issues among university students, they must be regarded as a vulnerable population. Resilience interventions offer one potential means of strengthening students' capacity to overcome academic challenges and external threats. This is all the more urgent in light of the additional difficulties caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic, such as the demands of remote learning. The present study is a first step toward designing and evaluating an appropriate dynamic resilience intervention for students. The design of the Resilience Journal intervention draws on insights from expressive writing and positive writing research and focuses on reflection on daily challenges. In this online intervention, 100 business school students (66% female, M age = 23.74) at a German university were randomly assigned to two groups and completed two different versions of the Resilience Journal for 5 days. The two versions focused, respectively on broadening attention to challenges and priming attention to mastered challenges. In a pre-post design, two resilience measures and one measure of life satisfaction were used to assess intervention outcomes. Additionally, a newly developed rating scale was used for daily monitoring of dynamic resilience. While both groups showed a significant increase in resilience as measured by the Brief Resilience Scale, that increase could not be attributed directly to the intervention, as there were no group differences, and the design did not include a control group. The other resilience and life satisfaction measures showed no significant change. This first implementation confirms the potential of the Resilience Journal and indicates directions for the development of dynamic resilience interventions and measures in future studies. To further study the potential of such a positive psychology intervention, future research necessitates the inclusion of control groups.

The associations between stressful life events and depression among students in a university in Botswana

Depression is common among university students and often impacts their career development and health. Stressful life events might be associated with depression but remain to be studied among young adults, especially in non-Western settings. Depression and stressful life events were assessed in 304 students at a university in Botswana ( M = 21.56, standard deviation = 1.86) using the 21-item Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) and the 26-Item Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Regression models were fitted to study the associations between stressful life events and depression while a one-way between-subjects analysis of variance was performed to compare subjects with minimal, mild, moderate, and severe depression on reporting stressful life events. Depression was present in 22 % of the participants (severe in 8.2% and moderate in 13.8%). More than half of the participants reported 10 or more stressful life events. Stressful life events significantly predicted depression (β = .37, 0.13–0.60). When all the other stressful life events and gender were adjusted for each other, loss of a cell phone, tablet, or laptop and relationship difficulties with peers, parents, and lecturers independently predicted depression. Subjects with minimal, mild, moderate, and severe depression significantly differed on reporting stressful life events ( F(3, 300) = 12.69, p < .001). Depression is not only common but significantly and increasingly associated with reporting more stressful life events. Types of stressful life events such as relationship difficulties and losses were uniquely associated with depression and should be considered in planning interventions and treatment of depression on university campuses.

Social Daydreaming and Adjustment: An Experience-Sampling Study of Socio-Emotional Adaptation During a Life Transition

Estimates suggest that up to half of waking life is spent daydreaming; that is, engaged in thought that is independent of, and unrelated to, one’s current task. Emerging research indicates that daydreams are predominately social suggesting that daydreams may serve socio-emotional functions. Here we explore the functional role of social daydreaming for socio-emotional adjustment during an important and stressful life transition (the transition to university) using experience-sampling with 103 participants over 28 days. Over time, social daydreams increased in their positive characteristics and positive emotional outcomes; specifically, participants reported that their daydreams made them feel more socially connected and less lonely, and that the content of their daydreams became less fanciful and involved higher quality relationships. These characteristics then predicted less loneliness at the end of the study, which, in turn was associated with greater social adaptation to university. Feelings of connection resulting from social daydreams were also associated with less emotional inertia in participants who reported being less socially adapted to university. Findings indicate that social daydreaming is functional for promoting socio-emotional adjustment to an important life event. We highlight the need to consider the social content of stimulus-independent cognitions, their characteristics, and patterns of change, to specify how social thoughts enable socio-emotional adaptation.

Computer-delivered and web-based interventions to improve depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being of university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Depression and anxiety are common mental health difficulties experienced by university students and can impair academic and social functioning. Students are limited in seeking help from professionals. As university students are highly connected to digital technologies, Web-based and computer-delivered interventions could be used to improve students' mental health. The effectiveness of these intervention types requires investigation to identify whether these are viable prevention strategies for university students.

OBJECTIVE

The intent of the study was to systematically review and analyze trials of Web-based and computer-delivered interventions to improve depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and stress in university students.

METHODS

Several databases were searched using keywords relating to higher education students, mental health, and eHealth interventions. The eligibility criteria for studies included in the review were: (1) the study aimed to improve symptoms relating to depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and stress, (2) the study involved computer-delivered or Web-based interventions accessed via computer, laptop, or tablet, (3) the study was a randomized controlled trial, and (4) the study was trialed on higher education students. Trials were reviewed and outcome data analyzed through random effects meta-analyses for each outcome and each type of trial arm comparison. Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool was used to assess study quality.

RESULTS

A total of 17 trials were identified, in which seven were the same three interventions on separate samples; 14 reported sufficient information for meta-analysis. The majority (n=13) were website-delivered and nine interventions were based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). A total of 1795 participants were randomized and 1480 analyzed. Risk of bias was considered moderate, as many publications did not sufficiently report their methods and seven explicitly conducted completers' analyses. In comparison to the inactive control, sensitivity meta-analyses supported intervention in improving anxiety (pooled standardized mean difference [SMD] -0.56; 95% CI -0.77 to -0.35, P<.001), depression (pooled SMD -0.43; 95% CI -0.63 to -0.22, P<.001), and stress (pooled SMD -0.73; 95% CI -1.27 to -0.19, P=.008). In comparison to active controls, sensitivity analyses did not support either condition for anxiety (pooled SMD -0.18; 95% CI -0.98 to 0.62, P=.66) or depression (pooled SMD -0.28; 95% CI -0.75 to -0.20, P=.25). In contrast to a comparison intervention, neither condition was supported in sensitivity analyses for anxiety (pooled SMD -0.10; 95% CI -0.39 to 0.18, P=.48) or depression (pooled SMD -0.33; 95% CI -0.43 to 1.09, P=.40).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest Web-based and computer-delivered interventions can be effective in improving students' depression, anxiety, and stress outcomes when compared to inactive controls, but some caution is needed when compared to other trial arms and methodological issues were noticeable. Interventions need to be trialed on more heterogeneous student samples and would benefit from user evaluation. Future trials should address methodological considerations to improve reporting of trial quality and address post-intervention skewed data.

Managing the Transition: The Role of Optimism and Self-Efficacy for First-Year Australian University Students

Students making the transition from high school to university often encounter many stressors and new experiences. Many students adjust successfully to university; however, some students do not, often resulting in attrition from the university and mental health issues. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the effects that optimism, self-efficacy, depression, and anxiety have on an individual's life stress and adaptation to university. Eighty-four first-year, full-time students from the Queensland University of Technology (60 female, 24 male) who had entered university straight from high school completed the study. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing their levels of optimism, self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, perceived level of life stress and adaptation to university. In line with predictions, results showed that optimism, depression, and anxiety each had a significant relationship with students’ perceived level of stress. Furthermore, self-efficacy and depression had a significant relationship with adaptation to university. We conclude that students with high levels of optimism and low levels of depression and anxiety will adapt better when making the transition from high school to university. In addition, students with high levels of self-efficacy and low levels of depression will experience less life stress in their commencement year of university. The implications of this study are outlined.