Motivation to change predicts college students’ utilization of self-help resources

Abstract

Background: Stress and mental health difficulties are common burdens on college students. College counseling centers have been overrun by demand. Thus, self-help interventions may offer a promising alternative to traditional college counseling services. Methods: The current study examined the influence of perceived stress, motivation to change, and self-efficacy beliefs on college students’ use of self-help resources, to determine whether these factors would predict follow-up with self-help recommendations. Results: Results of stepwise linear regression models suggest that perceived stress and self-efficacy did not predict self-help resource utilization. Different types of self-help recommendations did not predict different levels of follow-up. However, motivation to change was a significant predictor college students’ self-help resource use, and this variable was particularly important when self-help recommendations were less structured. Conclusions: These findings can help to predict which college students are likely to make use of self-help resources, and inform targeted individual treatment.

Keywords:

• Self-help
• college students
• motivation to change

Acknowledgments

This paper was dedicated to Beverly Syslo, Alyson’s late grandmother. We would also like to thank Dr. David Freestone and Dr. Aileen Torres, for their wisdom and consultation on this project.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of USA and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of William Paterson University.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.