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A longitudinal quasi-experimental study of a pedagogical approach to supporting undergraduate well-being and mental health: digital interdisciplinary accredited elective mental health literacy university course
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Nathan King ,
Daniel Rivera,
Kurtis Pankow ,
Simone Cunningham,
Elizabeth Tetzlaff,
Kristen Kyone,
Emily Dephoure,
Adeleine Lyon,
Lucy Robinson ,
Edward Watkins,
Charles Keown-Stoneman
BJPsych Open, Volume: 12, Issue: 2, Start page: e64
Swansea University Author:
Kurtis Pankow
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© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1192/bjo.2025.10960
Abstract
Background: Entry to higher education coincides with a period of accelerated psychosocial and brain development. Student need for acceptable and accessible well-being and mental health support is straining university resources. Aims: To evaluate the acceptability and impact of a digital mental healt...
| Published in: | BJPsych Open |
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| ISSN: | 2056-4724 |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71833 |
| Abstract: |
Background: Entry to higher education coincides with a period of accelerated psychosocial and brain development. Student need for acceptable and accessible well-being and mental health support is straining university resources. Aims: To evaluate the acceptability and impact of a digital mental health literacy course tailored for undergraduates and delivered as an accredited interdisciplinary elective. Method: Analyses included pre–post course survey data from enrolled students and longitudinal U-Flourish Well-Being Survey data from a comparison sample of non-course takers over the same period (2021–2024). Linear mixed-effects models examined associations between course participation and 12-week changes in mental health literacy, psychosocial risk factors, well-being and common mental health concerns. Results: Pre–post course survey data (N = 2884) supported high acceptability, improvements in resilience (+0.06; 95% CI 0.03–0.08, p < 0.001) and self-compassion (+0.65; 95% CI 0.46–0.84, p < 0.001), and a reduction in brooding (−0.31; 95% CI −0.44 to−0.18, p < 0.001). Taking the course was associated with a reduction in anxiety (β = −0.41; 95% CI −0.55 to −0.27, p < 0.001) and cannabis use (proportional odds ratio 0.82; 95% CI 0.75–0.90, p < 0.001), improvement in sleep quality (β = 0.79; 95% CI 0.61–0.97, p < 0.001) and evidence of a protective effect on well-being (β = 0.24; 95% CI 0.11–0.36, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (β = −0.37; 95% CI −0.52 to −0.21, p < 0.001), compared with non-course takers. Effects differed by gender, with women benefitting most, but were comparable across minoritised student subgroups. Conclusions: Mental health literacy delivered as an accredited undergraduate interdisciplinary course is highly acceptable and associated with improvement in psychological coping and positive effects on student mental health and well-being. Future research should focus on more diverse student samples, underlying mechanisms and sustained effects. |
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| Keywords: |
Mental health literacy; anxiety; depression; well-being; university student mental health |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
This study was funded by an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant number: TID 184571) and from the Mach Gaensslen and Rossy Family Foundations. |
| Issue: |
2 |
| Start Page: |
e64 |