Student perceptions and proposals for promoting wellbeing through social relationships at university

Priestley, Michael; Hall, Angela; Wilbraham, Susan J.; Mistry, Virendra; Hughes, Gareth; Spanner, Leigh

doi:10.1080/0309877x.2022.2061844

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Dos Santos et al [ 75 ] highlighted the potential association between social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and symptoms of anxiety. Focusing on the unique circumstances of the university student cohort, who tend to be detached from their family and friends, the importance of social connectivity on anxiety may be greater, especially for international students [ 76 ]. Web-based community and support were another way through which students noted that social media reduced their anxiety.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Anxiety Among University Students in the United Kingdom: Qualitative Study

Anto¹,

Asif²,

Basu³

et al. 2023

JMIR Form Res

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Background The rapid surge in social media platforms has significant implications for users’ mental health, particularly anxiety. In the case of social media, the impact on mental well-being has been highlighted by multiple stakeholders as a cause for concern. However, there has been limited research into how the association between social media and anxiety arises, specifically among university students—the generation that has seen the introduction and evolution of social media, and currently lives through the medium. Extant systematic literature reviews within this area of research have not yet focused on university students or anxiety, rather predominantly investigating adolescents or generalized mental health symptoms and disorders. Furthermore, there is little to no qualitative data exploring the association between social media and anxiety among university students. Objective The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review of the existing literature and a qualitative study that aims to develop foundational knowledge around the association of social media and anxiety among university students and enhance extant knowledge and theory. Methods A total of 29 semistructured interviews were conducted, comprising 19 male students (65.5%) and 10 female students (34.5%) with a mean age of 21.5 years. All students were undergraduates from 6 universities across the United Kingdom, with most students studying in London (89.7%). Participants were enrolled through a homogenous purposive sampling technique via social media channels, word of mouth, and university faculties. Recruitment was suspended at the point of data saturation. Participants were eligible for the study if they were university students in the United Kingdom and users of social media. Results Thematic analysis resulted in 8 second-order themes: 3 mediating factors that decrease anxiety levels and 5 factors that increase anxiety levels. Social media decreased anxiety through positive experiences, social connectivity, and escapism. Social media increased anxiety through stress, comparison, fear of missing out, negative experiences, and procrastination. Conclusions This qualitative study sheds critical light on how university students perceive how social media affects their anxiety levels. Students revealed that social media did impact their anxiety levels and considered it an important factor in their mental health. Thus, it is essential to educate stakeholders, including students, university counselors, and health care professionals, about the potential impact of social media on students’ anxiety levels. Since anxiety is a multifactorial condition, pinpointing the main stressors in a person’s life, such as social media use, may help manage these patients more effectively. The current research highlights that there are also many benefits to social media, and uncovering these may help in producing more holistic management plans for anxiety, reflective of the students’ social media usage.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Anxiety Among University Students in the United Kingdom: Qualitative Study

Anto¹,

Asif²,

Basu³

et al. 2023

JMIR Form Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…antisocial, not sharing resources and information), which will contribute to these poor relationships. Recent studies report that student competition for academic success (or for internships, prizes and jobs) was a factor that contributed to poor peer relationships (Bristow et al, 2020;Priestley et al, 2022). Poor student relationships with their peers or teachers may also reflect the growth in student numbers, as many Australian universities now have first year biomedical science enrolments of over 400 students (Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In response to this correlation of poor-quality peer/staff relationships with students" psychological distress, we recommend that curricula are modified such that they support positive relationships between students and their peers and educators (academics/faculty, tutors, teaching assistants). It is worth noting that for positive student-educator relationships it is essential to support both student and educator workload and wellbeing (see Priestley et al, 2022). There is emerging evidence that curriculum modifications could promote students" relationships with peers and staff and reduce student distress, described as a "wellbeing curriculum" (Larcombe et al, 2021).…”

Section: Recommendation: Develop a 'Wellbeing Curriculum' To Support ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recommendations for a ‘Wellbeing Curriculum’ to Mitigate Undergraduate Psychological Distress Associated with Lack of Careers Confidence and Poor University Engagement

Choate¹,

Vojisavljevic²,

Carroll³

et al. 2022

HES

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To foster a ‘wellbeing curriculum’ in a climate with an increasingly competitive graduate jobs market, we believe it is critical to support undergraduate career development and to develop positive peer and educator relationships, particularly for non-vocational degree programs. However, these relationships between undergraduate wellbeing and their career development or peer/educator relationships have not been specifically examined. This study used a mixed methods approach to examine if poor career development or university engagement (quality of relationships with peers or educators, use of the university careers and counselling services, time studying) were associated with psychological distress for students in non-vocational degree programs. Undergraduates (biomedical science; n=1100) from five Australian universities participated in a survey to investigate relationships between psychological distress, as determined by their responses to the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales, and their career development or university engagement. Almost half of the students lacked confidence in their ‘future employment and job prospects’. Students’ psychological distress was significantly correlated with lack of confidence with their career development, poor relationships with their peers and educators and little use of the counselling service. Further exploration of these factors in student focus groups highlighted stress associated with academic competition between students and a critical need for undergraduate career development, especially industry placements. We provide pivotal recommendations to promote undergraduate and educator wellbeing, by developing a ‘wellbeing curriculum’ that supports career development and positive relationships between students and their peers and educators, particularly vital for non-vocational degrees.

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“…Student mental health is a growing public and political concern. Given evidence of increasing prevalence in student psychological distress (Linden et al, 2021), inequality in student mental health outcomes (Stoll et al, 2022), and significant academic (Jones et al, 2021), social (Priestley et al, 2022), and financial (McCloud & Bann, 2019) stressors in the university environment, there has been marked sectoral transition to a whole university approach to mental health in the UK (e.g. Universities UK, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Epistemology and Ethics of Analysing Lived Experience Data: A Pragmatic Foucauldian-Informed Approach to Coproducing Student Mental Health Initiatives in the Neoliberal University

Priestley,

Mazzoli-Smith

2023

International Journal of Qualitative Methods

Self Cite

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Analysis of lived experience data is increasingly advocated as an enabling strategy to inform ethical and effective policy and practice, particularly in the university mental health field. However, where Michel Foucault’s work is often drawn on to frame subjectivity of lived experience in the neoliberal university, this brings forth epistemological, methodological, and ethical tensions in using student voice to inform changes in mental health policy and practice. In Foucauldian terms, a double bind emerges wherein the power of student voice to destabilise existing forms of mental health knowledge and to reimagine the distress-inducing power structures within the neoliberal university are recuperated to (re)produce the same neoliberal structures and subjectivities. Drawing on data from 10 student focus groups, this study explores the epistemic, methodological, and ethical questions attached to analysis of student lived experience data in the context of a Foucauldian-informed understanding of the neoliberal university. It is argued that in pragmatist terms, whilst student voice must be contextualised within the socio-material and socio-psychological context of the neoliberal system to ensure beneficial consequences for student experience, a Foucauldian approach to interpreting lived experience data can also re-empower the subject with the freedom to resist and disrupt the reproduction of mentally unhealthy structures within the neoliberal system as part of a whole university approach.

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Student perceptions and proposals for promoting wellbeing through social relationships at university

Cited by 15 publications

References 46 publications

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Anxiety Among University Students in the United Kingdom: Qualitative Study

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Anxiety Among University Students in the United Kingdom: Qualitative Study

Recommendations for a ‘Wellbeing Curriculum’ to Mitigate Undergraduate Psychological Distress Associated with Lack of Careers Confidence and Poor University Engagement

The Epistemology and Ethics of Analysing Lived Experience Data: A Pragmatic Foucauldian-Informed Approach to Coproducing Student Mental Health Initiatives in the Neoliberal University

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