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The Delineation and Measurement of Study Difficulty in University Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Sidney Crown ,
C. J. Lucas  and
S. Supramaniam
Sidney Crown
Affiliation:
The London Hospital, E.1
C. J. Lucas
Affiliation:
University College London Health Centre, Gower Place, W.C.1
S. Supramaniam
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University College, London
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Extract

Psychiatric disturbances in a student population span a broad spectrum and include overt illness, a heterogeneous group of psychosocial problems with varied and changing symptomatology and normal crises of development. Complaints of work difficulty often form part of the symptomatology of all these groups, and not infrequently may be the presenting symptom. Quantification is difficult because the symptoms vary in degree and form, and change over time. They may be unreported or voiced only to friends or tutors. Their prevalence and significance is therefore hard to assess. In a cohort study spanning a four year period, Lucas (unpublished data) found that of the 15 per cent of the cohort who received brief psychotherapy, more than three-quarters had a work difficulty of some kind. Of the 26 per cent of the cohort who never attended the Student Health Centre nearly half replied ‘yes' to a question asking whether they had experienced recurring work difficulty.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 123 , Issue 575 , October 1973 , pp. 381 - 393
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1973 

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