Mental Health, Academic Self-Efficacy and Study Progress Among College Students – The SHoT Study, Norway

Abstract

Student life can be stressful and for some students it may cause mental distress. Besides being a major public health challenge, mental distress can influence academic achievement. The main objectives of the current study were to examine associations of mental distress with academic self-efficacy and study progress. A secondary aim was to examine mental health help seeking for students with mental distress. Data was derived from the Norwegian Students’ health and welfare survey 2014 (SHOT 2014) which is the first major survey comprising questions of both mental health, academic self-efficacy and psychosocial factors amongst students. Utilizing these data for a Norwegian region, we found that 749 (31%) of the 2430 Norwegian full-time students under the age of 35 responded to the survey. Symptoms of mental distress were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) and academic self-efficacy was measured using a Norwegian version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) tailored to the academic setting. Demographic-, social, lifestyle, and study-related variables were included in the analyses. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between mental distress, academic self-efficacy, and academic performance. Seventeen percent reported severe symptoms of psychological distress which is similar to the overall prevalence among students in Norway. Students reporting severe mental distress were four times as likely to report low academic self-efficacy and twice as likely to report delayed study progress compared to students reporting few or moderate symptoms of mental distress. 27% of those reporting severe mental distress had sought professional help whereas 31% had considered seeking help. The study showed that there was a strong association between symptoms of mental distress, academic self-efficacy and study progress. Prospective studies should evaluate whether improved help-seeking and psychological treatment can promote students mental health and ultimately improve academic self-efficacy and study progress.

Tobacco smoking and health-related quality of life among university students: Mediating effect of depression

“…The impairment of psychological well-being has been found to progress with the advancing years at school [46]. The study of Grøtan et al reported a strong association of mental distress with poorer academic self-efficacy as well as with slower study progress [47]. The presence of depression may increase smoking rate in youth indirectly by increasing their vulnerability and acceptance of peer norms [5].…”

I’m Not Good for Anything and That’s Why I’m Stressed: Analysis of the Effect of Self-Efficacy and Emotional Intelligence on Student Stress Using SEM and QCA

“…It also suggests that EC and ER will be negatively related to stress, since they are resources that facilitate the use of more functional strategies by improving the management of stress (Bryant and Malone, 2015;Perera and DiGiacomo, 2015;Schönfeld et al, 2016;Zeidner and Matthews, 2016) (hypothesis 1). Similarly, as discussed above, given that selfefficacy appears to affect the individual's self-perceived ability to cope with stress and her assessment of the resources available to her (Soysa and Wilcomb, 2015;Valle et al, 2015;Grøtan et al, 2019), it is expected that self-efficacy will be negatively related to the levels of perceived stress (hypothesis 2).…”

“…The evidence suggests that high levels of self-efficacy are associated with low levels of perceived stress (Karademas and Kalantzi-Azizi, 2004;Zhao et al, 2015;Dominguez-Lara, 2018). In consonance with this, low levels of efficacy expectations are related with high levels of anxiety and stress (Soysa and Wilcomb, 2015;Valle et al, 2015;Grøtan et al, 2019). The reason for these associations is the role of expectations as protective or buffering factors against stress (Frick et al, 2016).…”

Exam performance of different admission quotas in the first part of the state examination in medicine: a cross-sectional study

“…Devoting time to activities apart from studies-be it a job, social or political engagement or pursuit of a hobbyhave proven to affect study progress [36]. Delays in study progress, however, have been found to be linked to mental distress [37]. At the organisational (university) level, interruptions ultimately pose perils; accumulating interruptions or transfers may create additional teaching and administrative costs.…”