A longitudinal quasi-experimental study of a pedagogical approach to supporting undergraduate well-being and mental health: digital interdisciplinary accredited elective mental health literacy university course

Journal article

Background: Entry to higher education coincides with a period of accelerated psychosocial and brain development. Student need for acceptable and accessible well-being and mental health support is straining university resources. Aims: To evaluate the acceptability and impact of a digital mental health literacy course tailored for undergraduates and delivered as an accredited interdisciplinary elective. Method: Analyses included pre–post course survey data from enrolled students and longitudinal U-Flourish Well-Being Survey data from a comparison sample of non-course takers over the same period (2021–2024). Linear mixed-effects models examined associations between course participation and 12-week changes in mental health literacy, psychosocial risk factors, well-being and common mental health concerns. Results: Pre–post course survey data (N = 2884) supported high acceptability, improvements in resilience (+0.06; 95% CI 0.03–0.08, p < 0.001) and self-compassion (+0.65; 95% CI 0.46–0.84, p < 0.001), and a reduction in brooding (−0.31; 95% CI −0.44 to−0.18, p < 0.001). Taking the course was associated with a reduction in anxiety (β = −0.41; 95% CI −0.55 to −0.27, p < 0.001) and cannabis use (proportional odds ratio 0.82; 95% CI 0.75–0.90, p < 0.001), improvement in sleep quality (β = 0.79; 95% CI 0.61–0.97, p < 0.001) and evidence of a protective effect on well-being (β = 0.24; 95% CI 0.11–0.36, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (β = −0.37; 95% CI −0.52 to −0.21, p < 0.001), compared with non-course takers. Effects differed by gender, with women benefitting most, but were comparable across minoritised student subgroups. Conclusions: Mental health literacy delivered as an accredited undergraduate interdisciplinary course is highly acceptable and associated with improvement in psychological coping and positive effects on student mental health and well-being. Future research should focus on more diverse student samples, underlying mechanisms and sustained effects.

Authors: Duffy, A; King, N; Rivera, D; Pankow, K; Cunningham, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: BJPsych Open
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Article number: e64
• Publication date: 2026-02-16
• Acceptance date: 2025-12-15
• DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2025.10960
• EISSN: 2056-4724
• ISSN: 2056-4724
• Language: English
• Keywords: university student mental health; Mental health literacy; well-being; anxiety; depression