Towards an evidence‐base for student wellbeing and mental health: Definitions, developmental transitions and data sets

an article by Michael Barkham and Louise Knowles (University of Sheffield, UK), Emma Broglia (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Lutterworth, UK; University of Sheffield, UK), Géraldine Dufour (University of Cambridge, UK), Mark Fudge (Keele University, UK), Alan Percy (University of Oxford, UK), Afra Turner (Kings College London, UK) and Charlotte Williams (Birkbeck University of London, UK) on behalf of the SCORE Consortium (Student Counselling Outcomes, Research & Evaluation Consortium) published in Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Volume 19 Issue 4 December 2019)

Abstract

Against a background of huge changes in the world of university and college students since the turn of the millennium, together with a multitude of reports on student mental health/well-being, this article argues that the field of student mental health is hampered by the imprecise use of terms, a rush to action by universities in the absence of a robust evidence‐base, and a lack of overall coordination and collaboration in the collection and use of data.

In response, we argue for clearer and more consistent use of definitions of, as well as differentiations between, student well-being and mental health, for a longitudinal approach to the student body that captures their developmental transitions to and through university, and a strategic and systematic approach to the use of bona fide measures in the collection of data on well-being and on the process of outcomes in embedded university counselling services.

Such a coordinated approach will provide the necessary evidence‐base upon which to develop and deliver appropriate support and interventions to underpin and enhance the quality of students’ lives and learning while at university or college.

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