Vol. 36 No. 1 (2021)
Research Articles

“Like Pushing Through Slog”: Women with Depression in Online Learning

PDF HTML
Tracy Orr
Portage College
Bio

Published 2021-07-16

How to Cite

Orr, T. (2021). “Like Pushing Through Slog”: Women with Depression in Online Learning. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education Revue Internationale Du E-Learning Et La Formation à Distance, 36(1). Retrieved from https://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/1198
Copyright Notice

Abstract

Abstract: Using Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological psychological method and a social work disciplinary lens, this Canadian study explores how women in online learning contexts experience and recover from depression. The primary research question guiding the study was, “What are the lived experiences of women in online learning who have lived with and recovered from depression?” The goal of the study was to provide a general description of the structure of this lived experience. Ten women who suffered and recovered from an episode of major depressive disorder during their online studies were interviewed. Seven invariable constituents of the experience were identified, including the development of depression, the impact of depression on learning, the treatment of depression, the importance of peers in online learning, the experience of role overload, changes in self-identity, and the application of personal agency. The study provides recommendations for institutions, educators, and course designers to increase peer interaction and provide direct in-course links to student support.  

 

Keywords: online learning, women, depression, post-secondary, phenomenology

PDF HTML

References

  1. Abrami, P., Bernard, R., Bures, E., Borokhovski, E., & Tamim, R. (2011). Interaction in distance education and online learning: Using evidence and theory to improve practice. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 23, 82–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-011-9043-x
  2. Afifi, M. (2007). Gender differences in mental health. Singapore Medical Journal, 48(5), 385–391. http://smj.sma.org.sg/4805/4805ra1.pdf
  3. Allan, J., & Dixon, A. (2009). Older women’s experiences of depression: A hermeneutic phenomenological study. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 16(10), 865–873. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2009.01465.x
  4. American College Health Association. (2019). ACHA-NCHAII: Reference group executive summary. https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-II_SPRING_2019_US_REFERENCE_GROUP_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf
  5. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
  6. Angst, J., Gamma, A., Gastpar, M., Lépine, J.-P., Mendlewicz, J., & Tylee, A. (2002). Gender differences in depression: Epidemiological findings from the European DEPRES I and II studies. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 252, 201–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-002-0381-6
  7. Broome, R. (2011). Descriptive phenomenological psychological method: An example of a methodology section from doctoral dissertation. Utah Valley University. https://works.bepress.com/rodger_broome/9/
  8. Dalgard, O., Dowrick, C., Lehtinen, V., Vasquez-Barquero, J., Casey, P., Wilkinson, G., Ayuso-Mateos, J., Page., H., Dunn, G., & The ODIN Group. (2006). Negative life events, social support and gender difference in depression: A multinational community survey with data from the ODIN study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41, 444–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0051-5
  9. Dukas, C., & Kruger, L. (201). A feminist phenomenological description of depression in low-income South African women. International Journal of Women’s Health and Wellness, 2(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.23937/2474-1353/1510014
  10. Duxbury, L., Stevenson, M., & Higgins, C. (2018). Too much to do, too little time: Role overload and stress in a multi-role environment. International Journal of Stress Management, 25(3), 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000062
  11. Finlay, L. (2008). A dance between the reduction and reflexivity: Explicating the “phenomenological psychological attitude.” Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 39(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1163/156916208X311601
  12. Finlay, L. (2009). Exploring lived experience: Principles and practice of phenomenological research. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 16(9), 474–481. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijtr.2009.16.9.43765
  13. Giorgi, A. (2007). Concerning the phenomenological methods of Husserl and Heidegger and their application in psychology. Collection du Cirp, 1, 63–78. https://www.cirp.uqam.ca/documents%20pdf/Collection%20vol.%201/5.Giorgi.pdf
  14. Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Duquesne University Press.
  15. Glynn K., Maclean, H., Forte, T., & Cohen, M. (2009). The association between role overload and women’s mental health. Journal of Women’s Health, 18(2), 217–223. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2007.0783
  16. Kessler, R. (2003). Epidemiology of women and depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 74(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00426-3
  17. Kirsh, B., Friedland, J., Cho, S., Gopalasuntharanathan, N., Orfus, S., Salkovitch, M., Snider, K., & Webber, C. (2016). Experiences of university students living with mental health problems: Interrelations between the self, the social, and the school. Work, 53(2), 325–335. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-152153
  18. Kramarae, C. (2001). The third shift: Women learning online. American Association of University Women Educational Foundation.
  19. Krasowski, S. (2018). Canadian National College Health Assessment survey: Report on responses from AU students. Athabasca University.
  20. Li, C.-C., Shu, B.-C., Wang, Y.-M., & Li, S.-M. (2017). The lived experience of midlife women with major depression. Journal of Nursing Research, 25(4), 262–267. https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000159
  21. McIsaac, P. L. (2021). Chiming in: Social presence in an international multi-site blended learning course [Doctoral dissertation, Athabasca University]. DTheses. http://hdl.handle.net/10791/348
  22. McManus, D., Dryer, R., & Henning, M. (2017). Barriers to learning online experienced by students with a mental health disability. Distance Education, 38(3), 336–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2017.1369348
  23. Moisey, S. (2004). Students with disabilities in distance education: Characteristics, course enrollment and completion, and support services. Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), 73–91. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/102754/
  24. Pearson, C., Janz, T., & Ali, J. (2013). Mental and substance use disorders in Canada. Statistics Canada, Minister of Industry. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-624-x/2013001/article/11855-eng.pdf?st=DfOkhJG8
  25. Piccinelli, M., & Wilkinson, G. (2000). Gender differences in depression: Critical review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177(6), 486–492. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.177.6.486
  26. Røseth, I, Binder, P.-E., & Malt, U. (2013). Engulfed by an alienated and threatening emotional body: The essential meaning structure of depression in women. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 44(2), 153–178. https://doi.org/10.1163/15691624-12341254
  27. Shakalis, W. (2014). A comparative analysis of the transcendental phenomenological reduction as explicated in Husserl’s Ideas Book One, with Amedeo Giorgi’s ‘scientific phenomenology.’ School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College. https://www.academia.edu/7947737/A_comparative_analysis_of_the_transcendental_phenomenological_reduction_as_explicated_in_Husserl_s_Ideas_Book_One_with_Amedeo_Giorgi_s_scientific_phenomenology_
  28. Simon, M., & Goes, J. (2013). Dissertation and scholarly research: Recipes for success. Dissertation Success, LLC. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.5089.0960
  29. Weiner, E. (1999). The meaning of education for university students with a psychiatric disability: A grounded theory analysis. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 22(4), 403–409. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0095209
  30. World Health Organization. (2017). Depression and other common mental disorders: Global health estimates. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/depression-global-health-estimates
  31. York, C., & Richardson, J. (2012). Interpersonal interaction in online learning: Experienced online instructors’ perceptions of influencing factors. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(4), 83–98. https://10.24059/olj.v16i4.229
  32. Zimmerman, B., & Cleary, T. (2006). Adolescents’ development of personal agency. In F. Pajres & T. Urdan (Eds.), Adolescence and education (Vol. 5): Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (pp. 45–69). Information Age Publishing.