The feasibility and impact of online peer support on the well-being of higher education students

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen T.B. Drysdale ◽  
Margaret L. McBeath ◽  
Sarah A. Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Peer Support Group ◽  
And Control

Purpose Peer support has been identified as an important protective factor for mental health and overall well-being. The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of implementing an online peer support group and its impact on measures of well-being. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods randomized controlled trial design was used to examine the feasibility and impact of online peer support. Comparisons in well-being were made between the online peer support group and an in-person peer support group and control group. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group or either a six-week in-person or online peer support group. All participants completed an online survey measuring constructs of well-being pre- and post-condition. Additionally, qualitative data regarding the benefits of peer support and in particular the efficacy of the online format were collected from participants. Analysis of variance and post hoc tests determined significant differences within and between the groups. Findings Both the online and face-to-face peer support groups scored significantly higher on post-test measures of well-being than pre-test scores and control group scores. Qualitative narratives and significant quantitative findings supported the feasibility of peer support offered online. Post-condition outcomes showed that online peer support is as effective as in-person peer support for improving well-being. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to compare online and in-person peer support programs for students in higher education. The results have direct implications for higher education students and practitioners, especially at times when face-to-face support is not feasible.

Student mental health in the healthcare professions: exploring the benefits of peer support through the Bridge Network

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Anne Felton ◽  
Marissa Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Student Mental Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Healthcare Students ◽  
Mental Well Being

Purpose Student mental health is a major challenge for higher education in the twenty-first century. Students undertaking healthcare professionally affiliated courses can experience additional pressures that negatively impact on their well-being and can make it more difficult to access support. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach To address some of these challenges, the Bridge Network was established in one healthcare school in a higher education institution. It is a peer support network co-produced with students studying on healthcare courses to provide group-based support to promote mental well-being. Student peer group facilitators draw on their own lived experience of mental health challenges or of being a carer. The groups provide a safe space for students who may experience mental health difficulties to share, gain support and connect with each other. This paper explores the journey of setting up the Bridge Network. Findings Although the group has been well received and various factors have supported its establishment, there are several difficulties that the network has faced. Power imbalances between students and academic staff have been challenging for the co-produced design, alongside enabling positive and safe discloser for healthcare students. However, the network has raised the profile of mental well-being for healthcare students and encouraged supportive conversations about the issue as well as providing enriching volunteer opportunities. Practical implications The Bridge Network is an innovative development reflecting best practice within mental healthcare. However, to ensure spread and sustainability, alignment with organisational strategy is required. Originality/value The paper explores the strengths and challenges of establishing peer support for students undertaking vocational healthcare courses.

Online resilience support groups during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Philippine experience

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Regina Hechanova ◽  
Arsenio S. Alianan, Jr ◽  
Rosanne M. Jocson ◽  
Angelique P. Villasanta
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Adaptive Coping ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes of an online resilience support group during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Specifically, it described the extent to which the program improved adaptive coping, non-reactivity, resilience and well-being and decreased stress, depression and anxiety symptoms of participants. Design/methodology/approach This study used a pretest–posttest design with 53 participants. A majority of participants were female (74%) who participated in the program for 6–8 weeks. Scales measuring adaptive coping, non-reactivity, resilience, well-being, stress, depression and anxiety were administered before and after the completion of the modules. Findings Results revealed significant improvements in adaptive coping particularly seeking emotional and instrumental support, active coping, and religious coping. The results also showed significant improvements in nonreactivity, psychological well-being and resilience and decrease in depression symptoms. Effect size estimates indicate medium effect sizes for well-being and nonreactivity with the other outcomes having small effect sizes. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is the lack of a randomized control trial design and the lack of control for extraneous variables. Future studies using rigorous and longitudinal designs are recommended. Future studies may also examine program implementation factors such as using homogenous groups. Practical implications In most low-income countries, the provision of mental health and psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic has been hampered by the lack of mental health professionals, issues of internet connectivity and a lack of resources and access. Online resilience support groups may provide a means to address these challenges by making mental health support more accessible and available. Social implications The COVID-19 pandemic has caused isolation and a means to bridge this is through peer support groups. This may be especially important in collectivist cultures where social relationships serve as recovery capital. Originality/value Although there has been a rise in the use of technology, most are in the form of individual or self-help interventions. This paper examines the feasibility of an online structured peer support group that focuses on building resilience skills. It fills a gap in the literature on online peer support groups that may be most relevant for low-income countries with a dearth of mental health specialists.

Mindfulness, mindful consumption, and life satisfaction

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharad Gupta ◽  
Harsh V. Verma
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Treatment Group ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumption Behavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of mindfulness meditation sessions on students of higher education in terms of their mindfulness, mindful consumption behavior and life satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Participants of research were higher education students. The research included two studies. The first (screener) study endorsed that mindfulness was higher in students with higher mindfulness meditation frequency. The second study used difference-in-differences experimental design using a treatment and a control group. These groups participated in pre and post-treatment surveys. The treatment was given as guided short mindfulness meditation sessions as suggested by mindfulness guru – Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn. The treatment group received these sessions at the end of regular subject classes for two months. Findings The experiment revealed that mindfulness, mindful consumption and life satisfaction change significantly in the treatment group after treatment as compared to the control group. Research limitations/implications Limitations of the study included sample size and attrition. In total, 149 students participated in the screener study. In total, 94 students were given pre-treatment survey as per research design and 80 participated in post-treatment survey. Practical implications This experiment demonstrated that important traits and behavior like life satisfaction and mindful consumption behavior of higher education students can be improved significantly. The effectiveness of guided short mindfulness sessions, conducted in the classroom environment, was also confirmed. Social implications The inclusion of mindfulness in the regular curriculum by policy makers would benefit students, faculty members and overall quality of learning environment. Originality/value Though previous researches have separately investigated relationships of mindfulness with life satisfaction, there is a lack of research to show association of mindfulness, mindful consumption and life satisfaction.

Graduates giving back – a mentoring program for MBA students

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Darwin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Master Of Business Administration ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mba Students ◽  
A Value ◽  
The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges and obstacles encountered in the implementation of a mentoring program for Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at the University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School. The paper starts with an exploration into the need for a mentoring program, the trial and subsequent four years of implementation. The paper also explores the network model of mentoring and the reasons why this, rather than a more traditional model, was chosen for the program’s implementation. Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory case study uses data from over 600 students and their alumni mentors over a five-year period to evaluate and improve the program as well as cultivating a critical community of adult learners. Findings – Feedback from students indicates that the mentoring program is regarded by most as a value-added feature of their early learning as it offers support, if and when it is required, from those who have been there before. Research limitations/implications – Results are limited to one institution. However, as research into mentoring for higher education students is thin on the ground, this study contributes to our understanding of the positive impacts of mentoring on student success. Practical implications – This paper emphasizes the importance of business leaders giving back to their alma mater through mentoring current MBA students. It shows how mentoring can support learning and management development. Originality/value – This is an original study which explores ways to increase the learning of higher education students for positive social outcomes.

Overconfidence of vocational education students when entering higher education

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark P. Bowden ◽  
Subhash Abhayawansa ◽  
John Bahtsevanoglou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – There is evidence that students who attend Technical and Further Education (TAFE) prior to entering higher education underperform in their first year of study. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of self-efficacy in understanding the performance of students who completed TAFE in the previous year in a first year subject of microeconomics in a dual sector university in Melbourne, Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilises data collected by surveys of 151 students. Findings – A student’s self-efficacy is positively associated with their marks in a first year subject of microeconomics. However, the relationship between final marks and self-efficacy is negative for those students who attended TAFE in the previous year suggesting that they suffer from the problem of overconfidence. When holding self-efficacy constant, using econometric techniques, TAFE attendance is found to be positively related to final marks. Research limitations/implications – The findings are exploratory (based on a small sample) and lead to a need to conduct cross institutional studies. Practical implications – The research points to the need for early interventions so that TAFE students perform well in their first year of higher education. It also points to potential issues in the development of Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) programs. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the inter-related impact of attendance at TAFE in the previous year and self-efficacy on the subsequent academic performance of TAFE students.

Using the theory of planned behavior to understand the students’ pro-environmental behavior: a case-study in a Portuguese HEI

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabete Correia ◽  
Sara Sousa ◽  
Clara Viseu ◽  
Joana Leite
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Perceived Behavioral Control ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Environmental Attitude ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Main Determinants

Purpose Through the application of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to explore the main determinants of higher education students’ pro-environmental behavior. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted among the students of a public higher education institution (HEI) in Portugal, from March to May of 2020. The data were analyzed with the structural equation modeling technique, considering environmental attitude, knowledge, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control as exogenous latent variables, and pro-environmental intention and behavior as endogenous latent variables. Findings The results show that the students’ environmental attitude and knowledge have no significant impact on their pro-environmental intention, while the students’ subjective norm and perceived behavioral control have a positive impact on their pro-environmental intention. The results also reveal that the students’ perceived behavioral control and pro-environmental intention have a strong and positive impact on their pro-environmental behavior. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on the students from a single public HEI, in accounting and administration area, and deepens environmental behavior in relation to resources’ consumption. Practical implications This study provides findings that can be useful for HEIs to be more effective in their policies, strategies and practices to improve students’ environmental behavior. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by exploring the main determinants of higher education students’ pro-environmental behavior in a Portuguese HEI and extending the TPB considering the additional variable environmental knowledge.

Genderdysforie en ASS

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Brandsma ◽  
Kirsten Visser
Keyword(s):  
Peer Support ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Gender Variance ◽  
Medical Interventions ◽  
Peer Support Group ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Gender Presentation ◽  
Adolescents With Asd

There is a growing interest in the co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and gender dysphoria (GD). Research has shown that people with ASD show more gender variance than people without ASD. Due to the difficulties associated with ASD (limited social skills, problems in information processing and difficulty with change), regular GD treatment does not seem to be adequately equipped for this specific group. In this study we want to gain insight into the clinical needs of adolescents with ASD and GD and their parents. We are conducting a pilot study to the effects of a specific peer support group for adolescents with ASD and GD on quality of life. A pre-posttest design is used. Prior to the start of the support group, during each meeting and at the end of the support group, the adolescents fill out several short questionnaires. The ASD and Gender support group consists of nine monthly meetings for the adolescents, covering topics such as autism and gender-related needs, psychoeducation on medical interventions, environmental factors, gender expression and practicing gender presentation skills. Simultaneously, parents can follow the parent meetings. Currently, three rounds of the peer support group have started (each round with about 10-12 adolescents).

Self-counciousness competence as driver of innovation and environmental commitment in higher education students

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1507-1523
Author(s):  
Marian Buil Fabregá ◽  
Núria Masferrer ◽  
Josep Patau ◽  
Albert-P. Miró Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Commitment ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Management Students

Purpose The purpose of this research is to analyse the relationship between entrepreneurial skills and innovation commitment and entrepreneurial skills and environmental commitment as drivers of awareness on sustainable development of higher education students. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 1,318 business and management students out of the 3,535 students of Tecnocampus Pompeu Fabra University in Spain during the 2017-2018 academic year was selected to conduct a survey regarding their entrepreneurial skills and sustainability commitment, resulting in a total number of responses of 515. A structural equation model is proposed to contrast the hypothesis. Findings The statistical analysis showed the existence of a positive relation between the entrepreneurial skill of self-consciousness, innovation and environmental commitment to foster sustainability and sustainable development. It is one of the few studies related to the self-conciousness competence of the entrepreneurial skills which found, as a novelty, that the entrepreneurial skill of self-consciousness is the skill with the greater impact on innovation and environmental commitment. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the study are that it is based on a sample of students taking entrepreneurship courses at a specific Spanish University that is not representative of all entrepreneurs in all universities. Practical implications The research proposes including entrepreneurial skills programmes in higher education and research programmes as a way to assure commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability. Originality/value Promoting entrepreneurial skills among higher education students could act as drivers for sustainable development.

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