Description
The deep impacts of COVID-19 have changed many facets of our lives which has resulted in increased fears and mental health concerns. One recent study found that college students are reporting remarkable problems with academic, health and lifestyle-related concerns given the negative impact of COVID-19 (Son et al., 2000). Given the benefit of telehealth on psychological outcomes (Pennant et al., 2015) and the clear need for college mental health support during the lockdown, the current study will investigate the relationship between one’s willingness to use telemental health, COVID-19 fears, and mental health functioning. I propose that higher scores on the COVID-19 Fears scale will be associated with an increase in college students’ willingness to use telemental health services. I also propose that willingness to use telemental health services will be associated with an increase in overall psychological distress across the last year. Participants will include USD college students enrolled in Psychology 101 in fall 2020 and spring 2021 who completed self-report measures including fear of COVID, distress across the last year, stress management, and perceptions of telemental health. ANOVAs will be run to evaluate my hypotheses. Findings from this study can provide insight into future outreach programs concerning mental health on college campuses.
Influence of Fears of COVID-19 and Overall Psychological Distress on Willingness to Use Telemental Health Services
The deep impacts of COVID-19 have changed many facets of our lives which has resulted in increased fears and mental health concerns. One recent study found that college students are reporting remarkable problems with academic, health and lifestyle-related concerns given the negative impact of COVID-19 (Son et al., 2000). Given the benefit of telehealth on psychological outcomes (Pennant et al., 2015) and the clear need for college mental health support during the lockdown, the current study will investigate the relationship between one’s willingness to use telemental health, COVID-19 fears, and mental health functioning. I propose that higher scores on the COVID-19 Fears scale will be associated with an increase in college students’ willingness to use telemental health services. I also propose that willingness to use telemental health services will be associated with an increase in overall psychological distress across the last year. Participants will include USD college students enrolled in Psychology 101 in fall 2020 and spring 2021 who completed self-report measures including fear of COVID, distress across the last year, stress management, and perceptions of telemental health. ANOVAs will be run to evaluate my hypotheses. Findings from this study can provide insight into future outreach programs concerning mental health on college campuses.