Διερεύνηση των αναγκών, απόψεων, προθέσεων του φοιτητικού πληθυσμού του ΕΑΠ για τη δημιουργία και λειτουργία Υπηρεσίας Ψυχολογικής Συμβουλευτικής του Ε.Α.Π.

Abstract

The paper presents the initial findings of a study concerning the exploration of needs, perceptions and intentions for professional help seeking of the Hellenic Open University's students in the possibility of a prospective HOU’s counseling service. 765 undergraduate and postgraduate randomly selected students through a stratified sampling procedure participated in the study. A questionnaire was developed including a range of questions and a battery of scales measuring critical psychological structures for the study such as the assessment of stressful events, prior experience from a mental health professional, attitudes and intentions concerning professional help seeking. The results indicated that the vast majority of students consider as “useful and necessary” the establishment of a Psychological Counseling and Student Support Service at the Hellenic Open University and they react positively to the possibility of psychological help seeking from a mental health specialist. This finding was confirmed by the several scales used in the questionnaire surveying attitudes and intentions and the preferred service seemed to be on-site visits. With regard to the “difficulties” they face, the two major ones concerning their studies was "the tests anxiety" and the "difficulties in time management". In the personal-social sphere the "financial difficulties and related issues (e.g. unemployment, poverty, lower income, vocational uncertainty, etc.)" seemed to emerge as the most critical difficulty with all the consequences that this may imply in students’ social and academic life and decisions. A particularly striking finding was the high levels of psychological distress in the form of “stress” which indicates further the need for the provision of such a service / unit at the HOU.