Capstone Research Project 2020-2021
Assessing High School Students’ Beliefs and Help Seeking Behaviors Regarding Mental Health
University of San Diego Capstone Project
As part of USD's Counseling program, students are required to complete a research project and carry out a project defense. The defense is a public presentation of the student’s research project and its findings. In addition to the presentation, each student is required to turn in a formal written ‘Research Brief’ project report.
Research Purpose
As part of a needs assessment, this research project is utilized to gain insight into the beliefs and help seeking behaviors of high school students, at two different school sites, when it comes to mental health.
Why I chose this topic?
Early on in my first year as a graduate at USD, I recall having a conversation with my peer about mental health. We discussed our own experiences as Latina women in the public education system and how common it is for students to be unsure about discussing mental health let alone seek services for themselves or others. As part of a conference assignment my peers and I presented on the importance of mental health awareness in schools as well as possible ways to intervene. As part of the capstone project, my peer and I discussed the importance of first having a needs assessment and knowing what exactly current students in the public education system think about mental health. In order to provide effective interventions in the school setting and have a better knowledge of what students need, we decided qualitative data on mental health would be vital. As a future school counselor passionate about offering purposeful and data-based interventions, this is my first step toward doing so.