The Prevalence and Impact of Peer-Led Mental Health Presentations Among Sorority Women

One of the key motivations behind my journey into public speaking was my experience during a school-based mental health presentation. As I glanced around the room during the hour-long session, it was clear that my peers were disengaged and uninterested. The outdated videos from the early 2000s, paired with a speaker relying solely on statistics, failed to connect with the audience in any meaningful way. That moment highlighted a glaring gap in mental health advocacy and suicide prevention — a lack of youth involvement — and it ignited my determination to bridge that divide.

This passion for amplifying youth and young adult voices led me to explore the impact of age-aligned health presentations. In 2024, I delivered presentations to sorority chapters and used them as an opportunity to collect survey data on this very topic. The data gathered anonymously through Google Forms represents feedback from 18 chapters across universities in 13 states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, KS, MI, MS, NC, OH, OK, OR, WV). These insights have provided valuable perspectives on how relatable, peer-led presentations can drive engagement and impact.

The survey began with two yes-or-no questions, gathering a total of 365 responses. The first asked, “Have you ever seen a health presentation led by a speaker under 25/30 years old?” to which 34.8% responded “yes” and 65.2% said “no.” While recent years have seen a rise in “peer-to-peer” and “peer support” programs in educational settings — ranging from workshops to online platforms — the sample group’s results exemplify a probable shortage of peer-led initiatives in academic environments. Peer-led mental health interventions, which involve the interaction of individuals with shared experiences to offer knowledge, emotional support, and practical help, have yielded positive impacts in current research studies. Yet, despite increased efforts and growing research, this data suggests there’s still significant room for growth in bringing peer-led programs into university settings.

The next question, which garnered 360 responses, asked: “What are your thoughts on the effect of health presentations led by speakers of a similar age? (Select all that apply).” Participants could choose from the following options:

• “It’s more impactful/relatable”

• “It doesn’t make a difference”

• “It’s less impactful/effective”

• “Other” (with space to input additional thoughts)

  
  

Of the total responses, an overwhelming 95% (342 votes) selected “It’s more impactful/relatable.” Notably, only 3 participants selected multiple options, each choosing both “It’s more impactful/relatable” and “It doesn’t make a difference.” These clear-cut results may suggest that college students might find peer-led presentations to be significantly more engaging and relatable compared to speakers of older generations. 

It’s important to note that these results were gathered from an informal, anonymous survey conducted after my workshops and were not part of an official research study. Furthermore, the sample group consisted exclusively of undergraduate sorority women, meaning the data may not fully represent the broader college population. Ultimately, far more approaches and research are required to see the full effect of peer-led mental health initiatives among college students, but there are certainly promising results!