A Pain in the Head and Neck: College Students' Perceptions of Living with Migraines

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A Pain in the Head and Neck: College Students' Perceptions of Living with Migraines

Robinson, Jennifer - Dissertation

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title: A Pain in the Head and Neck: College Students' Perceptions of Living with Migraines

creator: Robinson, Jennifer

subject: Dissertations, Academic.

description: There are a large number of college students currently living with migraines (Alharbi et al., 2018). Since university students are subjected to psychological and physical stress, migraines are more common among them (Alharbi et al., 2018). A typical college student experiences regular stress, inconsistent eating, and irregular sleeping patterns, all of which can increase the likelihood of migraines (Rimsza & Kirk, 2005). This study explored the perspectives of 22 college students living with migraines. Specifically, how do students explain migraines and their effects on cognitive processes, affective states, and behavioral choices? How do migraine sufferers describe the impacts of migraines on their educational experience? Which factors influence their migraine management strategies? Students were interviewed using semi-structured phenomenological interviews. The health belief model was used as a framework to assess how students described their migraines and the actions they took to prevent their migraines. The analysis revealed 15 themes combined into three groups (educational related tasks, emotional implications, and management strategies). An analysis of the data led to the conclusion that students in this study looked to their college campuses to offer innovative treatment strategies and alternative options for care. The recommendations for future research include encouraging campus academic support services to be more aligned with the counseling center supports in order to offer a more cohesive understanding of the multidimensional aspects involved in living with chronic migraines. Another implication for future research would be to implement guidelines for educating staff on campus about students living with invisible disabilities.

publisher: Simmons University (Boston, Mass.)

contributor:

date: 2019

type: Text

format: 1 PDF (112 Pages)

identifier: td_hpe_2019_jr

source:

language: English

relation:

coverage:

rights: Material from the Simmons University Archives collections are made available for study purposes only. For more information, or to request rights to reproduce or reuse any material, contact the University Archives at archives@simmons.edu.

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