April 7-9, 2022 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Abstract: It Shows that Someone Actually Cares: The Importance of Instructor Social Support for College Students’ Mental Health
Rationale: Recent studies on the mental health of college students have found that 1 in 3 undergraduates have reported depression as opposed to 1 in 5 adults in the general population. Additionally, 26.3% of college-aged adults are experiencing mental illness as opposed to 19.1% of the general population. These statistics show that college students are at a higher risk for mental health issues. One factor that has been shown to help with the mental health of college students is receiving social support. Previous studies have examined receiving social support from friends and family, but there is a gap in the literature about receiving social support from instructors. This study explored the role of instructor social support on college students’ mental health by interviewing undergraduate students. Methods: 15 students participated in qualitative individual interviews. Students were asked what role instructors can play in providing mental health support for students, the importance of instructors providing mental health support for students, how the topic of mental health can be incorporated into the classroom, and what they would say to instructors who are hesitant to talk about mental health in the classroom. Interviews resulted in 129 single-spaced pages of transcripts. The author used an emergent thematic analysis to analyze the data. Results: Out of the five types of social support (emotional, esteem, instrumental, informational, and network), emotional support and informational support were the two most desired forms of social support students would like to receive from their instructors. Students overwhelmingly mentioned wanting forms of emotional support from their instructors stating that instructors are “a big part of our lives.” Many repeated multiple times the importance of instructors building relationships with their students because it makes them feel “important,” “cared about,” “heard,” and more than “just a number.” Students stated that if their instructors were more personable and open to talking about mental health, they would feel less alone during their mental health struggles because it would show that someone actually cares about them. Students also expressed the need for informational support from their instructors by their instructors simply providing them with different resources and pointing them in the right direction. Students believe that placing mental health resource information in a syllabus is not enough and that instructors need to actively remind students about the resources and encourage them to use them. They suggested reminders through in-class conversations, emailing links, and including the information on the class Blackboard page. Implications: Students view their instructors as part of their support system and believe that their instructors can positively influence their mental health. They recommended a number of ways that instructors can provide mental health support for their students and also offered advice for instructors who may be hesitant to discuss mental health in their classrooms. The next step of this research is to interview instructors to examine what they think their role in providing social support for students should be and evaluate their opinions on students’ recommendations on how they can provide mental health support.