Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Oct;46(14):2955-2970.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291716001665. Epub 2016 Aug 3.

Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys

R P Auerbach  1 , J Alonso  2 , W G Axinn  3 , P Cuijpers  4 , D D Ebert  5 , J G Green  6 , I Hwang  7 , R C Kessler  7 , H Liu  8 , P Mortier  9 , M K Nock  10 , S Pinder-Amaker  1 , N A Sampson  7 , S Aguilar-Gaxiola  11 , A Al-Hamzawi  12 , L H Andrade  13 , C Benjet  14 , J M Caldas-de-Almeida  15 , K Demyttenaere  16 , S Florescu  17 , G de Girolamo  18 , O Gureje  19 , J M Haro  20 , E G Karam  21 , A Kiejna  22 , V Kovess-Masfety  23 , S Lee  24 , J J McGrath  25 , S O'Neill  26 , B-E Pennell  27 , K Scott  28 , M Ten Have  29 , Y Torres  30 , A M Zaslavsky  7 , Z Zarkov  31 , R Bruffaerts  32
Affiliations

Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys

R P Auerbach et al. Psychol Med. 2016 Oct.

Erratum in

  • Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys - CORRIGENDUM.
    Auerbach RP, Alonso J, Axinn WG, Cuijpers P, Ebert DD, Green JG, Hwang I, Kessler RC, Liu H, Mortier P, Nock MK, Pinder-Amaker S, Sampson NA, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi A, Andrade LH, Benjet C, Caldas-de-Almeida JM, Demyttenaere K, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Gureje O, Haro JM, Karam EG, Kiejna A, Kovess-Masfety V, Lee S, McGrath JJ, O'Neill S, Pennell BE, Scott K, Ten Have M, Torres Y, Zaslavsky AM, Zarkov Z, Bruffaerts R. Auerbach RP, et al. Psychol Med. 2017 Nov;47(15):2737. doi: 10.1017/S0033291717001039. Epub 2017 May 2. Psychol Med. 2017. PMID: 28462760 No abstract available.

Abstract

Background: Although mental disorders are significant predictors of educational attainment throughout the entire educational career, most research on mental disorders among students has focused on the primary and secondary school years.

Method: The World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys were used to examine the associations of mental disorders with college entry and attrition by comparing college students (n = 1572) and non-students in the same age range (18-22 years; n = 4178), including non-students who recently left college without graduating (n = 702) based on surveys in 21 countries (four low/lower-middle income, five upper-middle-income, one lower-middle or upper-middle at the times of two different surveys, and 11 high income). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence and age-of-onset of DSM-IV anxiety, mood, behavioral and substance disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).

Results: One-fifth (20.3%) of college students had 12-month DSM-IV/CIDI disorders; 83.1% of these cases had pre-matriculation onsets. Disorders with pre-matriculation onsets were more important than those with post-matriculation onsets in predicting subsequent college attrition, with substance disorders and, among women, major depression the most important such disorders. Only 16.4% of students with 12-month disorders received any 12-month healthcare treatment for their mental disorders.

Conclusions: Mental disorders are common among college students, have onsets that mostly occur prior to college entry, in the case of pre-matriculation disorders are associated with college attrition, and are typically untreated. Detection and effective treatment of these disorders early in the college career might reduce attrition and improve educational and psychosocial functioning.

Keywords: College attrition; college dropout; education; epidemiology; mental illness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest In the past three years, Dr. Kessler has served as a consultant for or received research support from Johnson & Johnson Wellness and Prevention, the Lake Nona Life Project, and Shire Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kessler is a co-owner of DataStat, Inc., a market research company that carries out healthcare research. The other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Dr. Demyttenaere has served on advisory boards and speaker bureaus with Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Johnson & Johnson, Naurex and Servier. Dr. Demyttenaere has received grants from Eli Lilly, Fonds Ga Voor Geluk and Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaandereden.

References

    1. Blanco C, Okuda M, Wright C, Hasin DS, Grant BF, Liu SM, Olfson M. Mental health of college students and their non-college-attending peers: Results from the national epidemiologic study on alcohol and related conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2008;65:1429–1437. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cho SB, Llaneza DC, Adkins AE, Cooke M, Kendler KS, Clark SL, Dick DM. Patterns of substance use across the first year of college and associated risk factors. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2015;6:152. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Costello EJ, Egger H, Angold A. 10-year research update review: The epidemiology of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders: I. Methods and public health burden. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2005;44:972–986. - PubMed
    1. Costello EJ, Pine DS, Hammen C, March JS, Plotsky PM, Weissman MM, Biederman J, Goldsmith HH, Kaufman J, Lewinsohn PM, Hellander M, Hoagwood K, Koretz DS, Nelson CA, Leckman JF. Development and natural history of mood disorders. Biological Psychiatry. 2002;52:529–542. - PubMed
    1. Eisenberg D, Golberstein E, Hunt J. Mental health and academic success in college. The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy. 2009;9

Publication types