Lauren Churchwell
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Research Mentor(s): Shawna Smith
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Health Management and Policy / Public Health
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 1 – 10am – 10:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Lauren Churchwell, Shawna Smith
Presenter: 112
Abstract
Despite increased research on the mental health of 4-year university students, little is known about the mental health experiences of community college students. Mental Health Improvement through Community Colleges (MHICC), aims to reduce this knowledge gap and improve access to evidence-based mental health treatments for depression/anxiety for students attending a community college in Michigan. As part of MHICC, this study helps improve our understanding of community college student mental health needs by improving our questionnaire design and informing revisions to the MHICC student survey. The primary objective of this study is to conduct cognitive interviews with current community college students to provide information about the participant’s processes to answer survey questions, identify obstacles that may lead to response error, and gain an understanding of how participants may perceive the survey. Multiple students attending community colleges in Michigan were invited to participate. Interviews were carried out in the Spring of 2022 and a variety of interview techniques were used with students. During cognitive interviews, we asked students to answer specific questions from the survey and then to describe how they interpreted the question. Additionally, students were asked to “think aloud†while answering survey questions. This activity encouraged students to verbalize their thought processes as they answer survey questions. Results from the cognitive interviews and student focus groups will be used to ensure the quality and accuracy of survey instruments and will be helpful in identifying and analyzing sources of response error in the student survey. There are noticeable differences in mental health access for community college students and 4-year universities. The perspective of community college students adds to our understanding of how to assess current gaps in mental health at these institutions and implement potential evidence-based interventions to fill in the gaps.
Public Health
