Mental health of therapeutic students: relationships with attitudes, self-criticism, self-compassion, and caregiver identity

Abstract

As mental health awareness increases, more students enrol to therapeutic subjects, aspiring to help others' mental wellbeing. While mental health of other caring students has been explored, therapeutic students' mental health has not been investigated thoroughly. This study aimed to explore relationships between mental health, mental health attitudes, self-criticism/self-reassurance, self-compassion, and caregiver identity of counselling and occupational therapy students. One hundred forty-five students, recruited through opportunity sampling, completed measures about those constructs. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that their mental health was associated with attitudes, self-criticism/self-reassurance and self-compassion. Self-criticism and internal shame were independent predictors of mental health. Findings will inform the mental health status of therapeutic students and help identify better solutions for their challenging mental health.