The aims of the current thesis are to explore the application of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) informed interventions to the student population as a direct intervention to mental health needs within student mental health services and as a preventative course module for students designed to build resilience and wellbeing.
Chapter one is a systematic review of the literature that has explored the effectiveness of DBT in reducing mental health distress in students. Whilst DBT is a heavily researched and reviewed intervention, this is the first review to focus exclusively on its application to the needs of students. Sixteen studies were identified and included in the review, these studies included a variety of mental health difficulties including trauma, social anxiety, emotion dysregulation and academic stress. Of the sixteen studies, all but one demonstrated a significant improvement in student mental health, particularly in relation to emotion regulation and mindfulness.
Chapter two is an empirical investigation of the impact of a Wellness and Resilience Course (WRC) on student mental health. The WRC is designed as a 12-week module that is primarily based on DBT with lectures teaching mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal relationships skills. In comparison to the control group, the intervention group increased in adaptive skills use, acceptance of emotional responses, distress tolerance, mindfulness and life satisfaction. The results of the current study are encouraging for future research to explore the effectiveness of the WRC in improving mental wellbeing in a larger randomised sample of students. However, before future randomised control trails of the WRC could take place, further investigation is required to improve the completion rate of measures.
Chapter three provides a more in-depth discussion of the implications of the findings for both the systematic literature review and the empirical study. Specifically, chapter three aims to highlight the clinical impact the findings will have within student mental health services and their contribution to the development of future research.