Shifting Landscape of College Mental Health: An Exploration of Medicalization, Etiological Belief of Depression, and Help-Seeking among College Students
| dc.contributor.advisor | Wada, Kaori | |
| dc.contributor.author | Qiao, Qingqi Thomas | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Jin, Ling | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Drefs, Michelle | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Szeto, Andrew | |
| dc.date | 2024-05 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-01-29T19:11:03Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-01-29T19:11:03Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-01-25 | |
| dc.description.abstract | In recent years, college mental health has emerged as a contentious issue. Marked by a consistently high prevalence of mental illness among students and the escalating demand for services, many reports have suggested that college mental health is in crisis. Despite increased efforts to support students, there is little evidence suggesting that the mental health crisis in college campuses is abating. To understand the current landscape of college mental health, we conducted two studies. The first study was a critical review that delineates the process of medicalization and its effect on college mental health crises. We employed the framework of psychiatrization (Beeker et al., 2021) to conceptually unpack the dynamics between top agents (service providers, administrators, and programs) and bottom agents (students) and investigated their roles in the medicalization of college mental health. Our findings suggested that the active participation of both top and bottom agents has created a medicalizing looping effect, reinforcing the college mental health crisis. Our discussion centred on the need to initiate a critical dialogue in such environments. The second study examined how students’ etiological beliefs about depression influence their treatment perceptions and help-seeking intentions. Using an online survey, we collected responses from 201 students from Canada and the USA regarding their etiological beliefs, perceptions about antidepressants and counselling, and help-seeking intentions. The hierarchical regression analyses showed that students who endorsed biological explanations of depression were more likely to see the benefits of antidepressants and less likely to see the risks. Students endorsing psychosocial explanations of depression were more likely to seek help for their suicidal thoughts. Moreover, male students were less likely to see the benefits of antidepressants and more likely to see the risks of counselling than their female counterparts. Students with more depression symptoms were more likely to view counselling as risky and less likely to engage in help-seeking for both emotional problems and suicidal thoughts. Our discussion focused on ways to tailor treatment programs to promote help-seeking in depression. Finally, we discussed ways to improve college counselling and support the mental health needs of college students. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Qiao, Q. T. (2024). Shifting landscape of college mental health: an exploration of medicalization, etiological belief of depression, and help-seeking among college students (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118105 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42949 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Werklund School of Education | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | |
| dc.subject | College mental health | |
| dc.subject | Psychiatrization and medicalization | |
| dc.subject | College counselling | |
| dc.subject | Depression | |
| dc.subject | Etiological beliefs | |
| dc.subject | Treatment perception | |
| dc.subject | Help-seeking | |
| dc.subject.classification | Education--Guidance and Counseling | |
| dc.subject.classification | Mental Health | |
| dc.title | Shifting Landscape of College Mental Health: An Exploration of Medicalization, Etiological Belief of Depression, and Help-Seeking among College Students | |
| dc.type | master thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Education Graduate Program – Educational Psychology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science (MSc) | |
| ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent | I require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application. |