No abstract

Psychological distress among university students, especially young women, is of increasing concern. This study focuses on the prevalence of psychological distress among female university students and their need for mental health services. The analysis is based on two cross-sectional surveys, an internet survey among women students attending the University of Iceland in the spring of 2007, and a postal survey of Icelandic female adults conducted in the Fall of 2006. Psychological distress was measured with the Symptom Checklist-90 Depression and Anxiety subscales. The prevalence of above-threshold depression and anxiety among the university women students was 22.5% and 21.2% respectively. Results showed that the mean depression score was significantly lower among the students than among women of the same age in the general population. However, little less than one-third of students with elevated distress levels received any professional help. Only 1.4% of the distressed students received mental help care from nurses. The high proportion of distressed female students not receiving professional help is a challenge to the primary health-care system and the nursing profession. This also raises questions about the adequacy of the current system of health-care delivery and the potential advantages of on-campus health services, in closer proximity to the students.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the experience of participation in four sessions of cognitive behavioural group therapy for psychological distress for female university students' (n = 19), aged 22-45 years. Data were gathered with semi-structured interviews during March and April 2008 and analysed according to thematic content analysis. The results identified four themes: 'Gaining knowledge and understanding', 'Becoming more balanced and positive in thinking', 'Feeling more self-confident and in control' and 'Opportunities for practice and in-depth reflections'. Future recommendations include an increase in sessions from four to five, with one booster session to follow-up on newly acquired skills.

A study of a brief cognitive behavioral group therapy intervention for psychologically distressed Icelandic female university students was conducted using a pre-post test quasi-experimental design with intervention and control group conditions. Students were randomly allocated to control and intervention group conditions (n = 30). The intervention group received four sessions of cognitive behavioral group therapy, delivered by two advanced practice psychiatric nurses. Assessment of distress included self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms. Students in the intervention group experienced significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms compared to the control group post-test providing preliminary evidence concerning intervention effectiveness for Icelandic students.