New Journal Article on Women’s Peer Support of Mental Health
“Keeping My Head Above Water: Women’s Peer Support of Mental Health” has been published in the College Student Affairs Journal. With my co-authors Dr. Kim E. Bullington (Old Dominion University and Dr. Shelley Price-Williams (University of Northern Iowa), we examined how undergraduate women disclose mental health challenges and seek support from other women. Using a descriptive psychological phenomenological design informed by poststructural feminism, the authors interviewed 30 undergraduate women from varied majors and institutions. The study explored participants’ mental health experiences and how female peers responded when support was needed.
Participants experienced limited peer support. Although mental health was commonly discussed in general terms, women often felt judged, filtered what they disclosed, and relied on only one or two trusted friends. Peer support was selective. Friends frequently offered initial encouragement, but their support declined when mental health challenges became prolonged, complex, or connected to trauma. This withdrawal left participants feeling abandoned, burdensome, and uncertain about their self-worth. Women masked their mental health struggles. To avoid stigma, rejection, or misunderstanding, many minimized symptoms, maintained a competent public image, and concealed ongoing difficulties from peers and family.
The findings challenge broad messages of “women supporting women,” suggesting that such rhetoric can become performative when it is not matched by sustained care. Peer relationships can promote belonging and healing, but they may also reproduce judgment, exclusion, and emotional distance. Implications for practice included expanding peer-support systems through mentorship, identity-responsive support groups, community-building programs, regular check-ins, and stronger referral pathways to professional services.
The article is available online from College Student Affairs Journal (2026): https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/288/article/995233/summary
