Project

This is My Brave

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already-dire mental health crisis among students of U.S institutions of higher education. In a study of data collected from 350,000 students at 373 campuses in 2020-21, more than 60% of students met criteria for one or more mental health conditions, representing an almost 50% increase from 2013. Despite the high prevalence of mental health conditions among college students and the negative outcomes associated with these conditions, many students do not seek treatment, largely due to stigma. Stigma consists of negative stereotypes surrounding mental health conditions, with corresponding prejudice (emotional reactions to the stereotypes) and discrimination (behavioral responses toward people with mental health conditions).

Perceived stigma is a major predictor of suicide risk among college students. Stigma and its associated threats to college mental health persist across U.S. higher education institutions despite existence of evidence-based stigma reduction programs (EBPs) that could mitigate this modifiable risk factor. Dr. Kristin Kosyluk and colleagues have found that the creative, live storytelling EBP called This is My Brave (TIMB) reduces stigma and improves attitudes toward treatment-seeking among college students. Photovoice (PV) also has been confirmed as effective in destigmatizing mental health conditions among college students.

This project involves facilitating and studying implementation of two stigma-reduction EBPs on the USF campus — Photovoice and TIMB — to explore their relative effects in increasing participation, reducing stigma, and improving help-seeking attitudes and behaviors among not only students but also faculty and staff as participants and audience members. Co-PIs Dr. Kosyluk and McGladrey received a USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences internal research grant in fall 2022 to fund implementation of this project in spring 2023. 

For the TIMB project: https://usf.box.com/s/lus3ejc9shlz9uqgj67obza8wk2ml2ol