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Promoting student Mental Health: longitudinal evidence from the psychological support service at Tor Vergata
Federico Fiori Nastro1, Martina Pelle2, Alice Clemente3
1Chair of Psychiatry, Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy - IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
Aims:
This study aims to evaluate the impact of the Tor Vergata University psychological support service in promoting well-being and mitigating psychological distress among students. The research sought to examine changes in overall functioning and psychopathological dimensions following participation in a structured counseling intervention, assessing its role as a preventive and supportive resource within the academic environment.
Methods:
A longitudinal study was conducted on 83 university students (mean age= 22.3±2.38 years; 69.9% female) who accessed the Sportello Studenti psychological support service. Participants completed standardized assessments at baseline (T0) and after seven counseling sessions held every two weeks (T1), with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Global Functioning: Role and Social Scales (GF: Role; GF: Social). Non-parametric paired comparisons (Wilcoxon signed-rank tests) were used to evaluate changes in psychological distress and functioning.
Results:
Following participation in the counseling program, students showed significant improvements across functioning domains, while depressive symptoms and general psychopathology significantly decreased.
Discussion And Conclusions:
The results demonstrate that short-term counseling interventions delivered within a university setting can produce measurable benefits for students' mental health. The Sportello Studenti represents an accessible, preventive, and effective first-line service for addressing psychological distress in university populations. Future research with larger samples, control groups, and long-term follow-up is warranted to confirm these outcomes and further optimize psychological support strategies within higher education contexts.
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