Did you know?

Student life is a key period in many young people's lives. As a student, you get freedom and opportunities, but there are also great expectations and challenges, and you have to make important life choices. Even without a pandemic, it can be a turbulent period, putting pressure on mental health. Research shows that 3-4 students in 10 experience emotional problems. Given that three quarters of all mental disorders have their onset before the age of 25, it is important to focus on prevention and early detection.

Systematic monitoring is really crucial in this: it is a permanent focal point of the new evidence-based policy 'Students Mental Health', which is based on the public mental-health perspective.

Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts

What is the purpose of the Mental Health Monitor?

The Monitor provides an annual and multi-year evolving picture of mental health, resilience and study motivation, and is representative of students in higher education in Flanders and Brussels.

The Monitor generates specific action points and recommendations for policy and practice that translate to the macro, meso and micro levels.

Therefore, appropriate interventions and tools, such as MoodSpace, can be developed in an evidence-based way, and we evolve towards a 'community of caring'.

What does the Mental Health Monitor measure?

The Mental Health Monitor is in the framework of the World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) initiative. It starts from a definition of 'mental health as more than the absence of mental problems and disorders'.

The Monitor follows the predetermined WMH-ICS questionnaire, supplemented by themes based on the Psychological Basic Needs Theory of the self-determination theory as a target and engine for growth.

The Monitor measures various constructs, such as mental well-being, identity, motivation and resilience, using the basic psychological needs (autonomy, connectedness and competence) as drivers. Constructs such as quality of life, social support, help-seeking behaviour and the impact of emotional problems on daily functioning are also measured in a standardised way.

The instrument is available in Dutch and English.

Who can participate?

The survey runs in cooperation with all Flemish universities and universities of applied sciences.

All students pursuing master's, graduate, bachelor's, advanced master's (manama) and advanced bachelor's (banaba) programmes will receive an email inviting them to take part on a voluntary basis.

Students are followed up throughout their academic career, with up to four annual voluntary follow-up surveys.

Reporting

In cooperation with the Support Centre Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO), the researchers deliver an annual Flanders-wide report to the government with descriptions of the findings and recommendations for specific action points, translated to the macro, meso and micro levels. The SIHO is responsible for following up and deepening specific action points.

The researchers also feed back institution-specific results to the relevant educational institutions through institution-specific reports. This offers educational institutions the opportunity to optimise their targeted policies or interventions, and/or set up new initiatives in response to these results.

Furthermore, the Flanders-wide results appear in a dynamic dashboard in MoodSpace. This way, everyone, including other policymakers, as well as mental health professionals, can learn more about student well-being – about what works, but also what doesn't.

The results also allow a targeted expansion of MoodSpace to include interventions that strengthen students' resilience, connectedness and motivation as well as interventions to cope with emotional problems.

Thus, MoodSpace can form a catalyst for mental health of and among young people, as the most important and normal thing in the world.

Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts

Researchers and partners

Partners with complementary expertise in mental health and policy coordinate the development, implementation and evaluation of the Mental Health Monitor.

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