UNIFY
UNIFY researches and promotes student mental health at three university campuses using a mixed-methods approach to establish evidence-based, scalable interventions and foster sustainable cultural change in higher education institutions.
The project investigates the development, determinants, and effects of mental health throughout the course of (under)graduate and doctoral studies.
Consortium lead StuPsy
StuPsy
From a life course perspective, the project investigates the development, determinants, and effects of mental health throughout the course of (under)graduate and doctoral studies. It is based on a multidimensional understanding of mental health that encompasses clinical (sick days, mental illness), cognitive (well-being, life satisfaction, perceived general health), and affective facets (perceptions of stress and strain).
Based on psychological, sociological, and economic theories, the project analyses the influence of mental health characteristics on the transition to (under)graduate and doctoral studies, as well as the impact of decisions regarding (under)graduate and doctoral studies on these health characteristics. Moreover, it examines the influence of study requirements, learning environments, spatial mobility, and academic success on mental health. Particular attention is paid to resources that help students cope with study-related stressors. All analyses examine whether the development, determinants, and effects of mental health differ according to key social characteristics (gender, origin, domestic vs. foreign students).
The analyses are based on representative, predominantly longitudinal secondary data from Germany (NEPS, SLC, SeSaBa, SiD, Nacaps). Key findings will be published in specialist articles. In addition, transfer publications and a concept for target group-specific measures to promote the mental health of students are being developed.
The project is being carried out by a consortium of researchers from the DZHW, FernUniversität in Hagen, the Karlsruhe University of Education, and the University of Galway, along with partners from Deutsches Studierendenwerk and the German Academic Exchange Service.
Projects
UNIFY
UNIFY researches and promotes student mental health at three university campuses using a mixed-methods approach to establish evidence-based, scalable interventions and foster sustainable cultural change in higher education institutions.
StaR_MHI
StaR_MHI is a three-part collaborative project within the expert network of the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), the University Hospital Halle, the Leibniz Institute of Resilience Research (LIR), the German Youth Institute (DJI), the LMU University Hospital München, the Charité University Hospital Berlin, the University Hospital Jena, the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), the Institute of Psychology and the Student Health Management of the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg that aims to identify predictors of students’ mental health, validate them through high-frequency longitudinal analyses, and adapt and further develop suitable interdisciplinary intervention platforms for support and guidance.
PsychKOMPASS
PsychKOMPASS analyzes psychosocial counseling services for students nationwide, identifies needs and barriers, and, based on this analysis, develops evidence-based, practical recommendations for the sustainable improvement of services at universities and student services organizations.
MUTSPRUNG
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CAMPUS
The CAMPUS framework developed from the project will include suitable recommendations for universities, based on a systematic investigation of risk and resilience factors at both the individual level and the structural institutional level of higher education.
HoPsy
HoPsy taps into analytical potential at the interdisciplinary interface of higher education research and health science and strengthens the possibility of evidence-based control by universities for the health-sensitive further development of higher education structures by providing more differentiated findings on the simultaneous influence of individual and institutional determinants.
GesundStudiPro
Representative comparative analyses of health among higher education students and non-students of the same age.
GesA Stud
GesA Stud develops and evaluates low-threshold, personalized interventions to promote student health and sustainably enhance academic success.