Knowledge and Perceptions of Parents of High School Students with Mental Illnessabout Transition to College

Abstract

There is a growing trend of students with mental illness enrolling in colleges anduniversities (Castillo & Schwartz, 2013; Mowbray et al., 2006; Pinder-Amaker & Bell,2012; Quinn, Wilson, MacIntyre, & Tinklin, 2009). Studies have shown an increase inthe number of students with pre-diagnosed issues of mental illness arriving on collegecampuses, including an increase in severity and complexity of diagnoses (KnisMatthews, Bokara, DeMeo, Lepore, & Mavus, 2007; Martin, 2010; Mowbray et al.,2006).The current study had two purposes. The first purpose of the current study was todetermine the knowledge base of parents of students with mental illness regarding theservices, resources, and accommodations available within higher education institutions.A second purpose of this study was to discover the readiness of parents of children withmental illness to successfully transition their children from the high school setting intothe college environment.Participants were selected through a purposive sampling process using aprofessional network of providers who had confidential knowledge of and access toparents of college-bound children with mental illness diagnoses. During individualinterviews, participants responded to interview questions pre-designed to elicit theparticipants’ knowledge of college campus services and to discover their readiness totransition their children from the high school setting into the college environment. Datawere gathered and analyzed to determine emerging themes that reflected the participantresponses. The researcher identified five emerging themes: 1) academic support and serviceswere the primary considerations regarding the college selection process rather thanmental health services; 2) participants had a limited level of knowledge or awarenessregarding their expectations concerning the availability of on-campus mental healthservices; 3) participants recognized the benefits for collaborative partnerships betweenthe college campus and community based mental health providers; 4) participants werecommitted to helping and empowering their children to engage in the research andassessment of community-based mental health services local to the college campus; and5) participants expected to transition from an advocacy role of parenting to a support roleof parenting for their college students. The researcher also identified a common threadwoven through all five emerging themes: proactive transition planning. The findingspresent opportunities for improvement for a diverse group of people such as parents andtheir students with mental illness diagnoses, PK-12 special education and guidancepersonnel, higher education admissions, recruitment, and enrollment staff, highereducation student affairs personnel and faculty, on-campus mental health providers, andcommunity-based mental health providers.