Interventions to support the mental health and wellbeing of engineering students: a scoping review

Abstract

Engineering students enter a challenging and competitive sector in higher education and are potentially at risk of poor mental health and or mental wellbeing. It is important to raise awareness of and support good mental health and wellbeing for engineering students. We carried out a scoping review using Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology.Published sources of evidence were searched for this review via: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycInfo, Compendex, Web of Science, Emerald, Epistemonikos and Business Source Complete. Searches were conducted in January 2019 and updated in January 2020, and March 2022. Two reviewers independently screened all titles and abstracts, full text sources and extracted data using a form developed by the authors.Results: Searches identified 191 sources of evidence after title screening and 33 sources of evidence were included for final extraction following full-text screening. This represented over 4000 engineering students from 10 countries. Included studies were predominantly pilots, which suggests a lack of diverse research methods in the existing research base. Studies also varied in approaches to reporting. Interventions included training, relaxation, technology use, alternative teaching models, support services and a study break with a range of outcome measures used to evaluate intervention effects. Results of included studies noted reduced stress and anxiety, improved academic achievement, improved communication, motivation, physiological responses, attitude, and increased physical activity, health awareness and confidence. Mindfulness activities appear to be accepted by and helpful to engineering students.Conclusions: This review mapped interventions to support mental health and wellbeing in engineering students but identifies a need for further high-quality robust studies that are transparently reported using reporting guidelines.

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