Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Presentation

Severe mental health issues are prominent in college students, and about 3 out of 1000 college students are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Students with schizophrenia who attend college often fare better when they have access to care and support on campus. With this, it is important that college counseling centers are capable, and staff comfortable, to work with students presenting with such issues.

The aim for my research is to better understand the capability and comfortability of university center counseling staff when working with students with schizophrenia.

My hypotheses are that the more knowledgeable a counselor believes themself to be when working with a student with schizophrenia, the more comfortable they will be when working with such students. In addition, I hypothesized that the more knowledgeable participants report themselves to be, the lower stigma they will report towards students with schizophrenia.

To test my hypotheses, I created and distributed an online survey to staff at college counseling centers in the Midwest. My goal was to observe potential differences between participants in high or low categories of knowledge. Independent sample T-tests were run on comfort-treating, generalized stigma, and social stigma scores. In each of these tests, participants were separated into either the high or low perceived knowledge categories.

The findings indicate that those who reported higher scores of perceived knowledge also reported higher levels of comfort; however, there were not meaningful differences regarding generalized stigma or social stigma.

These results suggest that counselors who feel confident in their ability to administer various therapeutic methods on students with schizophrenia also feel more comfortable and prepared in working with such students.

Some of the study’s limitations include its small sample size, the use of self-report questionnaires, and the lack of racially/ethnically diverse participants. Further research on counselor training and effectiveness of services for students with schizophrenia are needed.