The Power of Conversation
That decision led to the development of two companion digital simulations: At-Risk for Faculty & Staff in 2009 followed by At-Risk for Students in 2012.
Users assume the role of a student or faculty member who selects from a menu of dialogue choices to have an interactive conversation with several virtual students exhibiting signs of psychological distress. The virtual students react to each choice with lifelike facial expressions, body language and verbal responses, closely replicating a face-to-face discussion.
In the faculty/staff version, for example, users meet and talk with three students exhibiting signs of distress. Gwen has good grades but worries about her performance. Jared seems distracted and recently turned in a disturbing writing assignment. Alberto’s grades and attendance are getting worse, and he isn’t turning in his assignments at all.
Through these interactions, users increase their knowledge about mental health and suicide prevention, learn to identify warning signs of psychological difficulties, and practice initiating and leading real-life conversations that help motivate students to seek help.
Kognito technology adjusts the conversation path based on the user’s selections, and virtual coaches give feedback along the way – all while enabling users to try different approaches to see what works best.
Making a Difference
All indications are that these practice conversations are paying off. A study of 1,151 students from multiple schools who were surveyed three months after completing the At-Risk simulation found a 70 percent increase in the number of classmates approached to discuss concerns about their psychological state and 53 percent increase in referrals to school support services. A separate study of 3,352 faculty and staff at the same three-month mark showed improvement with 47 percent and 42 percent increases, respectively.
Studies at individual schools have yielded similar results, and the program is now listed in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
“Over 90 percent of the people on our campus who have gone through the Kognito simulation say they feel more comfortable approaching and having a conversation with a student they’re concerned about,” said Michele Cooper, Suicide Prevention coordinator at the University of Arkansas. “I think one of the reasons is that people can go through the program in the privacy of their own home without the anxiety of a facilitated role-play in front of a group.”
“We started using Kognito five years ago to train our RAs and student mentoring groups, and now it’s also part of a course for incoming freshmen,” added Melissa Griffin, manager, Health Promotion, at Northern Arizona University. “Our students like the avatar technology because it meets them where they’re at. It’s relevant, familiar and engaging to them, and it’s become an integral part of our multidisciplinary approach to student mental health.”
Beyond Suicide Prevention
From improved gatekeeper training to other strategies designed to strengthen student mental health programs in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, colleges and universities are finding that the benefits extend beyond suicide prevention to increased student performance, improved student retention and even better campus safety.
The reason is that students’ mental and emotional problems can have a negative impact in all of these areas. Consider:
- Mild to severe depression causes an average -0.2 drop in GPA the semester of onset and -0.4 if there is a co-occurring anxiety.
- In a 2014 study of NYU students, 55 percent of respondents reported that emotional and mental difficulties had affected their academic performance for at least one day in the past month, 22.5 percent reported that anxiety had affected their academic performance in the last 12 months, and 59 percent of students with symptoms of depression said that their symptoms made it difficult for them to complete schoolwork.
- A study of 2,800 college students conducted by the Healthy Minds Networks at the University of Michigan concluded that “depression is a significant predictor of not only GPA but also the likelihood of dropping out from the university.”
- One-fourth of students who drop out with less than a 3.0 GPA screen positive for at least one mental illness such as depression or generalized anxiety disorder.
- The majority of violence on campuses is committed by students who have screened positive for mental illnesses.
Cultivating a culture of campus wellness increases the likelihood that students struggling with mental and emotional problems will seek help before those problems spin out of control; that in turn can yield a significant return on investment not only in the areas mentioned but also on a school’s bottom line. Indeed, a 2014 study by the Healthy Minds Network found that delivering mental health treatment to 100 depressed students could result in averting six dropouts during a school year.
Nothing can bring back the lives of those who died in the Virginia Tech massacre, but the expanded mental health initiatives undertaken by campuses across the country in response to the tragedy are improving the lives of students experiencing problems ranging from academic stress to severe depression today.
Increased awareness, new gatekeeper skills, earlier intervention, care teams and other changes are building healthier campuses.
Rena Wish Cohen is a freelance contributor to eCampus News.
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