Supporting the Transition to Postsecondary Institutions for Students with Mental Health Conditions: A Scoping Review

To conduct a scoping review to identify programs and interventions to support youth with mental health conditions (MHCs) with their transition to postsecondary institution (PSI).

A database search of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, SocINDEX, ERIC, CINHAL, and Education Research Complete was undertaken. In this review, MHC was defined as a mental, behavioural, or emotional condition, or problematic substance use, and excluded neurodevelopmental or physical disorders. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted the data. Included studies are described and a risk-of-bias assessment was conducted on included studies.

Nine studies were included in this review, describing eight unique interventions. Sixty-two percent of interventions were nonspecific in the MHCs that they were addressing in postsecondary students. These interventions were designed to support students upon arrival to their PSIs. Peer mentorship, student engagement, goal setting, and interagency collaboration were some of the strategies employed. However, the overall quality and level of evidence in these studies was low and the effectiveness of these programs was not established.

The volume of research identified was limited, no reliable nor policy informing conclusions can yet be made about the impact of these interventions as the evaluation methods, quality of the research methodologies, and the levels of evidence available were of low-quality. Future randomized control trials are required that are designed to target and improve transitions from secondary education to PSIs for those with MHCs.