The Delineation and Measurement of Study Difficulty in University Students

Abstract

Psychiatric disturbances in a student population span a broad spectrum and include overt illness, a heterogeneous group of psychosocial problems with varied and changing symptomatology and normal crises of development. Complaints of work difficulty often form part of the symptomatology of all these groups, and not infrequently may be the presenting symptom. Quantification is difficult because the symptoms vary in degree and form, and change over time. They may be unreported or voiced only to friends or tutors. Their prevalence and significance is therefore hard to assess. In a cohort study spanning a four year period, Lucas (unpublished data) found that of the 15 per cent of the cohort who received brief psychotherapy, more than three-quarters had a work difficulty of some kind. Of the 26 per cent of the cohort who never attended the Student Health Centre nearly half replied ‘yes' to a question asking whether they had experienced recurring work difficulty.

Motivation and study habits

“…A study which links clinical with psychometric approaches in research on students was recently reported by Crown et al (1973). Their questionnaire produced three factors of study difficulty -anxiety and depression, obsessiveness in seeking work satisfaction, and a combination of low motivation and disorganisation.…”

Age‐group differences in the psychological well‐being and academic attainment of distance learners

“…They are: anxiety, depression, disorganisation, obsessionality, somaticism, low motivation, work satisfaction, and syllabus boundness. The theory behind the construction of the UCLSQ and the sub-scales are reproduced in Crown et al (1973) and Lucas et al (1976), together with the evidence supporting its validity. Reliabilities of the scales range from .82 to .58, with an average around .7.…”

“…Some interesting research into the question was carried out by a group of psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, and psychotherapists of University College London Health Centre in the 1970s (Crown et al, 1973;Lucas and Crown, 1974;Lucas et al, 1976;Crown et al, 1977;Stringer et al, 1977Stringer et al, , 1978. They attempted to develop a systematic way of delineating and measuring study difficulty in the affective domain only, as contrasted with the cognitive.…”

Psychosomatic Study of 60 Patients with Vertigo

“…It consists of 6 subtests which measure free-floating anxiety, depression (with the possibility, therefore, on confirming or not, the information gath ered from the previous two scales), phobic anxiety, obsessional traits and symptoms, somatization and hysterical traits. This type of psychometric study has been widely used, given that it demonstrates reliabili ty, objectivity and constancy in a studies carried out on university students [3], psychosomatic patients [4], and psychoncurotics [31].…”