Psychological Stress in University Students: Causes & Effects - Essay Sample

Psychological stress among various university students has recently increased, both in terms of frequency and severity (Nagy et al., 2015). The increase in psychological stress has raised concerns for public health since it results in negative effects on students’ academic performance as well as personal development (Mullen et al., 2015). The most common psychological symptoms reported by students comprise anxiety, depression, as well as substance abuse. Psychological counseling services of universities permit students to have access for guidance and counseling hence helping to minimize stress and can, therefore, be deemed as the very first mental services that university students get in their lives; however, they might get clinical attention at a much later stage of their lives (Niederer et al., 2009).

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However, it has been revealed that in spite of the need to support students in psychological matters - only a small percentage of universities have begun offering counseling services to their students; this may be due to numerous factors, including students' overestimation of their own self-efficacy, a tendency to deny their difficulties, resistance to attending the initial interview, avoidance of the perceived stigma of utilizing mental health services and being unaware of these services (Nathan et al., 2019). The main focus of this paper is to examine the value intervention in psychological consultation for university students.

Research Questions

• What is the significance of value intervention in psychological consultation for university students?
• What are the effects of psychological problems on university students?
• What is an indicator of effective value intervention psychological consultations?

Research Objectives and Statement of Problems

• To examine the significance of value intervention in psychological consultation for university students.
• To investigate the effects of psychological problems on university students.
• To determine an indicator of effective value intervention, psychological consultations.

The researcher will focus on meeting the above objectives as a way of addressing the research questions. Eventually, the study will have succeeded in solving the main research problem; value intervention in psychological consultation for university students.

Literature Review

Significance of Value Intervention in Psychological Consultation for Universities’ Students

Brailsford (2011) argued that comprehensive counseling and guidance are very significant in helping university students, along with their guardians and parents. If counselors could have sufficient resources and time, then psychological counseling can be very important in equipping students with the necessary skills for handling various psychological challenges and hence boosting their academic performance (Onan et al., 2019). Moreover, effective value interventions in psychological counseling would be significant in creating a conducive educational setting for students and hence help them to advance their academic achievements as well as developing career plans (MacFarlane et al., 2016).

Effects of Psychological Problems on University Students

The cumulative amount of attention is focused on the transition to higher education as experienced by students. Gresham (2017) argued that a type of movement that comprises a big deal of stress and various challenges. However, certain students are capable of experiencing the transition as a challenge to their personal growth. On the other hand, other students find themselves overwhelmed by these changes and undergo emotional depression and maladjustments (Honderich, 2015). Adjustment issues and general development need constant attention by university professionals owing to immediate relevance to the success of the university. Hardy (2013) argued that psychological problems present a lot of problems to students such as interfering with their basic study techniques, time and stress management, goal settings, handling emotions as well as self-esteem crystallization (Cook et al., 2012). Moreover, a student's inability to handle and manage stress, therefore, have an adverse impact on their social, personal, academic as well as professional success.

Indicator of Effective Value Intervention Psychological Consultations

The results of the current studies have indicated that psychological consultations by a leger number of students indicate the effectiveness of the value intervention psychological consultations. Honderich (2015) argued that findings from various universities have indicated that students with developmental disorders, anxiety, or mood disorders undergo more psychological consultations while the ones without a psychological diagnosis were the least and were associated with minimal follow-up time (Lai et al., 2014).

Significance of Study

The completion of the study will have substantial input to knowledge. The findings on the research problem and the subsequent analysis will inform the society in several ways. For one, the university management will be informed regarding the value intervention in psychological consultation for their students. This can be considered in terms of the probable application in the context of counseling. Besides, Klein et al. (2013) argued that the knowledge gained will be valuable in understanding the interplay between the university administration and the counseling department based on how the university administration promotes the value intervention in psychological consultation for students. This will be important in understating the general nature of psychological disorders among university students.

Research Methodology

This work adopted the usage of mixed approaches to help in summarizing evidence on various aspects concerning value intervention in psychological consultation for university students (Powell et al., 2008). Numerous published journal articles ware also reviewed to enhance effective comprehension of the closest relationship between psychological disorders and counseling in universities. Moreover, a comprehensive study was done on the internet from various sources with the main intention of acquiring comprehensive knowledge concerning value intervention in psychological consultation for university students.

Interview was used as the primary method for quantitative data collection as it offered an opportunity to customize the question according to the respondent's ability (Powell et al., 2008). The interview helped the researcher to establish the level of accuracy in data collection by observing the respondents behavior.

Furthermore, a systematic review was performed by the researcher regarding the research topic, which was then followed by a pilot search on different library databases relating to psychological issues among university students.

Moreover, the researcher also categorizing participants into two groups, one for the university counseling staff and the other one for the university students. The groups were given the same questionnaires and their responses analyzed appropriately to evaluate the existence of any gap.

References

Brailsford, I. (2011). 'The ha'porth of tar to save the ship': Student counseling and vulnerable university students, 1965 - 1980. History of Education, 40(3), 357-370. https://doi:10.1080/0046760X.2010.529833

Cook, C. R., Mayer, G. R., Wright, D. B., Kraemer, B., Wallace, M. D., Dart, E., Restori, A. (2012). Exploring the link between behavior intervention plans, treatment integrity, and student outcomes under natural educational conditions. The Journal of Special Education, 46(1), 3-16. https://doi:10.1177/0022466910369941

Gresham, F. M., Dart, E. H., & Collins, T. A. (2017). Generalizability of multiple measures of treatment integrity: Comparisons among direct observation, permanent products, and self-report. School Psychology Review, 46(1), 108-121. https://doi:10.17105/SPR46-1.108-121

Hardy, S. A., Francis, S. W., Zamboanga, B. L., Kim, S. Y., Anderson, S. G., & Forthun, L. F. (2013). The roles of identity formation and moral identity in college student mental health, Healthrisk behaviors, and Psychological WellBeing. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(4), 364-382. https://doi:10.1002/jclp.21913

Honderich, E. M., & Lloyd-Hazlett, J. (2015). Factors influencing counseling students’ enrollment decisions: A focus on CACREP. The Professional Counselor, 5(1), 124-136. https://doi:10.15241/emh.5.1.124

Karaman, M. A., Schmit, M. K., Ulus, I. C., & Oliver, M. (2018). International counseling students’ perception of ethics. Journal of International Students, 8(2), 677-695. https://doi:10.32674/jis.v8i2.98

Klein, J. P., Berger, T., Schröder, J., Späth, C., Meyer, B., Caspar, F., Psykologi. (2013). The evident-trial: Protocol and rationale of a multicenter randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of an online-based psychological intervention. BMC Psychiatry, 13(1), 239-239. https://doi:10.1186/1471-244X-13-239

Lai, M. M. Y., Roberts, N., & Martin, J. (2014). Effectiveness of patient feedback as an educational intervention to improve medical student consultation (PTA feedback study): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 15(1), 361. https://doi:10.1186/1745-6215-15-361

MacFarlane, I. M., McCarthy Veach, P., Grier, J. E., Meister, D. J., & LeRoy, B. S. (2016). Effects of anxiety on novice genetic counseling students’ experience of supervised clinical rotations. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 25(4), 742-766. https://doi:10.1007/s10897-016-9953-x

Mullen, P. R., Uwamahoro, O., Blount, A. J., & Lambie, G. W. (2015). Development of counseling students’ self-efficacy during preparation and training. The Professional Counselor, 5(1), 175-184. https://doi:10.15241/prm.5.1.175

Nagy, R., Nagy, R., Peay, H., Peay, H., Hicks, M., Hicks, M., Reiser, C. (2015). Genetic counselors’ and genetic counseling students’ attitudes around the clinical doctorate and other advanced educational options for genetic counselors: A report from the genetic counseling advanced degree task force. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 24(4), 626-634. https://doi:10.1007/s10897-014-9785-5

Nathan, M. L., Ormond, K. E., Dial, C. M., Gamma, A., & Lunn, M. R. (2019;2018;). Genetic counselors and genetic counseling students' implicit and explicit attitudes toward homosexuality. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 28(1), 91-101. https://doi:10.1007/s10897-018-0295-8

Niederer, I., Kriemler, S., Zahner, L., Bürgi, F., Ebenegger, V., Hartmann, T., Puder, J. J. (2009). Influence of a lifestyle intervention in preschool children on physiological and psychological parameters (ballabeina): Study design of a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 9(1), 94-94. https://doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-94

Onan, N., Karaca, S., & Unsal Barlas, G. (2019). Evaluation of a stress coping course for psychological resilience among a group of university nursing students. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 55(2), 233-238. https://doi:10.1111/ppc.12340

Powell, H., Mihalas, S., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Suldo, S., & Daley, C. E. (2008). Mixed methods research in school psychology: A mixed-methods investigation of trends in the literature. Psychology in the Schools, 45(4), 291-309. https://doi:10.1002/pits.20296