Understanding Students’ Mental Well-Being Challenges on a University Campus: Interview Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Research shows that emerging adults face numerous stressors as they transition from adolescence to adulthood. This paper investigates university students’ lived experiences of maintaining mental well-being during major life events and challenges associated with this transitional period. As we continue to design health technology to support students’ mental health needs, it is imperative to understand the fundamental needs and issues particular to this phase of their life to effectively engage and lower the barriers to seeking help. OBJECTIVE This study first aimed to understand how university students currently seek and receive support to maintain their mental well-being while going through frequent life events during this period of emerging adulthood. The study then aimed to provide design requirements for how social and technical systems should support the students’ mental well-being maintenance practice. METHODS Semistructured interviews with 19 students, including graduate and undergraduate students, were conducted at a large university in the Midwest in the United States. RESULTS This study’s findings identified three key needs: students (1) need to receive help that aligns with the perceived severity of the problem caused by a life event, (2) have to continuously rebuild relationships with support givers because of frequent life events, and (3) negotiate tensions between the need to disclose and the stigma associated with disclosure. The study also identified three key factors related to maintaining mental well-being: time, audience, and disclosure. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of this study’s empirical findings, we discuss how and when help should be delivered through technology to better address university students’ needs for maintaining their mental well-being, and we argue for reconceptualizing seeking and receiving help as a colearning process.