Towards an evidence‐base for student wellbeing and mental health : definitions, developmental transitions and data sets

Against a background of huge changes in the world of university and college students since the turn of the millennium, together with a multitude of reports on student mental health/wellbeing, this article argues that the field of student mental health is hampered by the imprecise use of terms, a rush to action by universities in the absence of a robust evidence‐base, and a lack of overall coordination and collaboration in the collection and use of data. In response, we argue for clearer and more consistent use of definitions of, as well as differentiations between, student wellbeing and mental health, for a longitudinal approach to the student body that captures their developmental transitions to and through university, and a strategic and systematic approach to the use of bona fide measures in the collection of data on wellbeing and on the process of outcomes in embedded university counselling services. Such a coordinated approach will provide the necessary evidence‐base upon which to develop and deliver appropriate support and interventions to underpin and enhance the quality of students’ lives and learning while at university or college

The dimensions of written expression: Language group and gender differences

© 2014. This study compared the written expression of 159 English-speaking first (L1) and second language (L2) learners (Mage=9; 7 years, SD=3.63 months) in England The L1 learners outperformed their L2 peers on the four dimensions of written expression, namely holistic quality, written vocabulary, organisational quality, and compositional fluency. Girls also outperformed boys on all dimensions, except for organisation. The interaction between language group and gender was nonsignificant, but there was a trend for the language group differences to be larger for boys. Vocabulary, organisation, and compositional fluency made unique contributions to holistic quality in both language groups and the strength of these relations were relatively comparable across the L1 and L2 groups. Educational implications are discussed