Community College Students’ Awareness of Risk Factors for Mental Health Problems and Referrals to Facilitative and Debilitative Resources

Mental Health Literacy and Peer‐to‐Peer Counseling Referrals Among Community College Students

“…The study’s findings contribute to the extant literature on promoting college students’ mental health on community college campuses (Kalkbrenner & Hernández, 2017; Kalkbrenner et al, 2019). Specifically, several key results that emerged from the current investigation have implications for augmenting community college counselors’ education and outreach activities.…”

“…Specifically, when compared with their male counterparts, female community college students are more aware of symptoms of mental illness (Dobmeier et al, 2013) and seek counseling at higher rates (Eisenberg et al, 2016). Similarly, Kalkbrenner and Hernández (2017) found that male community college students were more likely to react in harmful ways to a peer in mental distress (e.g., "take them drinking") when compared with female community college students. In addition, past investigators have identified ethnicity as an important demographic variable with community college students (Watson, 2009) and 4-year university students (Eisenberg, Hunt, Speer, & Zivin, 2011), with students who identify as White reporting fewer adjustment and mental health issues when compared with non-White students.…”

Utility of the REDFLAGS Model for Supporting Community College Students’ Mental Health: Implications for Counselors

“…Mental health literacy is an emergent concept that refers to one’s knowledge and beliefs about mental illness, actions toward preventing mental illness, awareness of warning signs of mental distress, attitudes toward reducing mental health–related stigma, and knowledge of resources and treatment for mental distress (Crowe, Mullen, & Littlewood, 2018; Kutcher, Wei, & Coniglio, 2016). A number of previous researchers found positive associations between students’ mental health literacy and their use of mental health support services along with their willingness and ability to recognize signs and refer peers to resources for mental health concerns (Dobmeier, Kalkbrenner, Hill, & Hernández, 2013; Kalkbrenner & Hernández, 2017; Nolan, Pace, Iannelli, Palma, & Pakalns, 2006; Pasco, Wallack, Sartin, & Dayton, 2012; Reingle, Thombs, Osbom, Saffian, & Oltersdorf, 2010; Servaty‐Seib et al, 2013).…”

“…Past investigators identified a number of community college student demographic characteristics associated with use of mental health support services and proclivity for providing peer‐to‐peer mental health support (Eisenberg, Hunt, Speer, & Zivin, 2011; Kalkbrenner & Hernández, 2017). In particular, students who identified with ethnic backgrounds other than White tended to experience higher levels of stigma toward help‐seeking behaviors and received less treatment (Eisenberg et al, 2011).…”

Understanding Mental Health Scale: Development, Validation, and Implications for College Counselors

“…The positive relationship between students' awareness of the warning signs for mental health issues and positive well‐being outcomes has been documented in the literature (Becker et al, ; Clough & Casey, ). Recent research extended this finding to a more specific relationship between students' awareness of MHDs and the types of referrals they would make for a classmate who was at risk for mental health issues (Kalkbrenner & Hernández, ). Students with a high awareness of the signs of MHDs were significantly more likely to report a willingness to refer a classmate who was showing signs of an MHD to facilitative resources (e.g., counseling) compared with students with low awareness of MHDs.…”