College Students and Mental Health Services
Disciplines
Mental and Social Health | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Mental health services (MHS) are a great resource provided by nearly all universities. College students’ counseling use has been found to improve their mental health and academic performance in addition to student retention (LeViness et al., 2019). However, even with these known benefits, MHS remain a vastly underutilized resource at higher education institutions across the country (Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2020). The current study surveyed 404 undergraduate students at Kennesaw State University about their use of MHS, attitudes toward MHS, and perceived barriers to MHS use. Significant differences in use of MHS were found between demographic groups of class [F(4, 398) = 5.02, p = .001] and major [F(3, 399) = 5.36, p = .001]. Specifically, third-year students (M = .11, SD = .32) and biology majors (M = .07, SD = .27) were least likely to use MHS. There were no significant differences found between demographic groups and attitudes toward MHS. Past barriers were a significant predictor of MHS use and explained a significant proportion of the variance [R2 = .22, F(16, 386) = 6.94, p < .001]. The most common perceived barrier to receiving MHS in the past was that students were not sure if their problem was important/serious enough which was selected by almost half (44%) of the sample. The most common perceived barrier to receiving MHS in the future was financial reasons; also selected by almost half (44%) of the sample. These results can be used to develop and implement pointed outreach and intervention initiatives to improve MHS use, and ultimately, student mental health.
References
Center for Collegiate Mental Health. (2020, January). 2019 Annual Report (Publication No. STA 20-244).
LeViness, P., Gorman, K., Braun, L., Koenig, L., & Bershad, C. (2019). The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors Annual Survey: 2019. 56.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Psychological Science
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Christopher T. Allen
College Students and Mental Health Services
Mental health services (MHS) are a great resource provided by nearly all universities. College students’ counseling use has been found to improve their mental health and academic performance in addition to student retention (LeViness et al., 2019). However, even with these known benefits, MHS remain a vastly underutilized resource at higher education institutions across the country (Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2020). The current study surveyed 404 undergraduate students at Kennesaw State University about their use of MHS, attitudes toward MHS, and perceived barriers to MHS use. Significant differences in use of MHS were found between demographic groups of class [F(4, 398) = 5.02, p = .001] and major [F(3, 399) = 5.36, p = .001]. Specifically, third-year students (M = .11, SD = .32) and biology majors (M = .07, SD = .27) were least likely to use MHS. There were no significant differences found between demographic groups and attitudes toward MHS. Past barriers were a significant predictor of MHS use and explained a significant proportion of the variance [R2 = .22, F(16, 386) = 6.94, p < .001]. The most common perceived barrier to receiving MHS in the past was that students were not sure if their problem was important/serious enough which was selected by almost half (44%) of the sample. The most common perceived barrier to receiving MHS in the future was financial reasons; also selected by almost half (44%) of the sample. These results can be used to develop and implement pointed outreach and intervention initiatives to improve MHS use, and ultimately, student mental health.
References
Center for Collegiate Mental Health. (2020, January). 2019 Annual Report (Publication No. STA 20-244).
LeViness, P., Gorman, K., Braun, L., Koenig, L., & Bershad, C. (2019). The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors Annual Survey: 2019. 56.