Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students.
University psychological counseling (UPC) is receiving growing attention as a means to promote mental health and academic success among young adults and prevent irregular attendance and dropout. However, thus far, little effort has been directed towards the implementation of services attuned to stud...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266895 |
| _version_ | 1811236125188030464 |
|---|---|
| author | Pasquale Musso Gabrielle Coppola Ester Pantaleo Nicola Amoroso Caterina Balenzano Roberto Bellotti Rosalinda Cassibba Domenico Diacono Alfonso Monaco |
| author_facet | Pasquale Musso Gabrielle Coppola Ester Pantaleo Nicola Amoroso Caterina Balenzano Roberto Bellotti Rosalinda Cassibba Domenico Diacono Alfonso Monaco |
| author_sort | Pasquale Musso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | University psychological counseling (UPC) is receiving growing attention as a means to promote mental health and academic success among young adults and prevent irregular attendance and dropout. However, thus far, little effort has been directed towards the implementation of services attuned to students' expectations and needs. This work intends to contribute to the existing literature on this topic, by exploring the perceptions of UPC among a population of 39,277 students attending one of the largest universities in the South of Italy. Almost half of the total population correctly identified the UPC target population as university students, and about one third correctly expected personal distress to be the main need that UPC should target. However, a large percentage did not have a clear idea about UPC target needs, activities, and population. When two specific student subsamples were analyzed using a person-centered analysis, namely (i) those who expressed their intention to use the counseling service but had not yet done so and (ii) those who had already used it, the first subsample clustered into two groups, characterized by an "emotional" and a "psychopathological" focus, respectively, while the second subsample clustered into three groups with a "clinical", "socioemotional", and "learning" focus, respectively. This result shows a somewhat more "superficial" and "common" representation of UPC in the first subsample and a more "articulated" and "flexible" vision in the second subsample. Taken together, these findings suggest that UPC services could adopt "student-centered" strategies to both identify and reach wider audiences and specific student subgroups. Recommended strategies include robust communication campaigns to help students develop a differentiated perception of the available and diverse academic services, and the involvement of active students to remove the barriers of embarrassment and shame often linked to the stigma of using mental health services. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T12:03:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7dd8f9666c46478c87c5f809435d56c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T12:03:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-7dd8f9666c46478c87c5f809435d56c52022-12-22T03:33:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01174e026689510.1371/journal.pone.0266895Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students.Pasquale MussoGabrielle CoppolaEster PantaleoNicola AmorosoCaterina BalenzanoRoberto BellottiRosalinda CassibbaDomenico DiaconoAlfonso MonacoUniversity psychological counseling (UPC) is receiving growing attention as a means to promote mental health and academic success among young adults and prevent irregular attendance and dropout. However, thus far, little effort has been directed towards the implementation of services attuned to students' expectations and needs. This work intends to contribute to the existing literature on this topic, by exploring the perceptions of UPC among a population of 39,277 students attending one of the largest universities in the South of Italy. Almost half of the total population correctly identified the UPC target population as university students, and about one third correctly expected personal distress to be the main need that UPC should target. However, a large percentage did not have a clear idea about UPC target needs, activities, and population. When two specific student subsamples were analyzed using a person-centered analysis, namely (i) those who expressed their intention to use the counseling service but had not yet done so and (ii) those who had already used it, the first subsample clustered into two groups, characterized by an "emotional" and a "psychopathological" focus, respectively, while the second subsample clustered into three groups with a "clinical", "socioemotional", and "learning" focus, respectively. This result shows a somewhat more "superficial" and "common" representation of UPC in the first subsample and a more "articulated" and "flexible" vision in the second subsample. Taken together, these findings suggest that UPC services could adopt "student-centered" strategies to both identify and reach wider audiences and specific student subgroups. Recommended strategies include robust communication campaigns to help students develop a differentiated perception of the available and diverse academic services, and the involvement of active students to remove the barriers of embarrassment and shame often linked to the stigma of using mental health services.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266895 |
| spellingShingle | Pasquale Musso Gabrielle Coppola Ester Pantaleo Nicola Amoroso Caterina Balenzano Roberto Bellotti Rosalinda Cassibba Domenico Diacono Alfonso Monaco Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. PLoS ONE |
| title | Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. |
| title_full | Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. |
| title_fullStr | Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. |
| title_short | Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. |
| title_sort | psychological counseling in the italian academic context expected needs activities and target population in a large sample of students |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266895 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pasqualemusso psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT gabriellecoppola psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT esterpantaleo psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT nicolaamoroso psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT caterinabalenzano psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT robertobellotti psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT rosalindacassibba psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT domenicodiacono psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents AT alfonsomonaco psychologicalcounselingintheitalianacademiccontextexpectedneedsactivitiesandtargetpopulationinalargesampleofstudents |