Safe space type interventions to generate well-being in university contexts and their effectiveness: a quick review of the literature

Abstract

University students face a series of new challenges, which, added to the pre-existing conditions of stress and aggravated by the consequences left by the COVID-1 pandemic, make them a vulnerable population in terms of mental health. On the other hand, higher education institutions have the responsibility to offer strategies that allow them to cope with these stressors and increase the sense of well-being in their students. Considering the above, we set ourselves the objective of identifying interventions to generate well-being in university contexts, with emphasis on undergraduate and graduate students, as well as their effectiveness through a rapid review of the literature. First, a search of indexed literature from two indexed databases (Scopus and Web of Science) was performed, as well as grey literature sources. After a detailed evaluation of the articles found, we selected 11 of them to be part of the rapid literature review. A descriptive analysis of the selected literature was carried out and, finally, recommendations were issued based on the information collected with the aim of guiding the implementation of strategies to generate well-being in university contexts.