Healthy Student Life
Student well-being is under pressure. Many students report high levels of stress and loneliness and show destructive health behaviours like binge drinking or drug abuse. On top of that, the COVID-19 pandemic has put an even greater burden on students’ well-being. For these reasons, improving student well-being is a priority of Radboud University as reflected in the university’s strategy “A Significant Impact”.
Within our Healthy Student Life team, our research focusses on well-being, stressors, health behaviour, and student success, including topics like study and achievement pressure, substance use, physical (in)activity, social safety, study-life balance and social support. By means of a longitudinal questionnaire study (including 3 waves in a period of 1.5 years), we aim to map the complex interrelated network of these topics and provide concrete recommendations that can be used to positively influence student well-being at Radboud University. As a team, our goal is to support healthy student lives, improve student well-being and contribute to a successful and meaningful study period.
Our research is part of the project “Studentenbegeleiding 2023", an integrated approach in which current and new student well-being initiatives are coordinated, made visible and accessible to students and professionals at Radboud University.
Update May 2023
Start of the third round of the longitudinal survey study
In May 2023 all students of Radboud University will be invited to participate in the third round of our longitudinal survey study. Students can find the invitation in their student mailbox and can participate until mid-July. To get the most accurate and representative view of student well-being at this moment and to learn more about predictors of well-being and possible risk groups, we aim to reach as many students as possible. Therefore, feel free to draw students’ attention to the third round of this longitudinal project (between May and July 2023), e.g. by sharing our PowerPoint poster slides during a lecture break, by uploading our poster as an announcement on Brightspace or by sharing a message on students Brightspace pages or by mail! Your collaboration is highly appreciated!
Promotion materials third round
Team Healthy Student Life
Research output
- Student substance use during the first COVID-19 lockdown (pdf, 424 kB) (scientific article; English)
- Wave 1 Sub-report l: Prevalence of COVID-19 infections, vaccination coverage and COVID-19-related concerns among students (pdf, 239 kB)(report; Dutch)
- Oneigenlijk gebruik van ADHD-medicatie (pdf, 1,9 MB) (factsheet by Trimbos Institute; Dutch)
News & Media
Current highlights on student well-being in (Dutch) news or media:
- Studenten gebruikten vaker cannabis tijdens de lockdown, maar dronken juist minder alcohol
- Studenten blowden meer, maar dronken minder tijdens de eerste lockdown
- Studenten weten ondanks alle maatregelen steeds beter hun weg te vinden in de crisis
- Studenten drinken minder alcohol tijdens coronacrisis
- Vooral jonge studenten en jonge medewerkers hebben last van de coronamaatregelen
- Studenten nemen minder drugs en drank tijdens corona, maar ‘zorgelijke’ subgroep gebruikt meer
- De dunne lijn tussen FOMO en een burn-out
- Zorgen om welzijn studenten meer dan een kwart in slechte gezondheid
Group members
- Prof. dr. Jacqueline Vink
Group leader - Prof. dr. Sabine Geurts
Group leader - Dr. Sterre Simons
Postdoc - Dr. Tirza van Noorden
Postdoc - Kirsten van Hooijdonk, MSc
PhD Student - Aafke Swinkels, MSc
PhD Student - Dr. Renske van der Cruijsen
Universitair docent - Anieke Gerrits, MSc
Teacher
Contact & collaborations
Within our project, we work together with a large consortium consisting of other academic and practical partners. Additionally, research master students are welcome to join our team for their minor or major projects.
Are you interested in working together or do you have questions about our project? Please contact HealthyStudentLife@ru.nl or contact one of our group leaders for more information.