Measurement invariance and psychometric properties of the CCAPS for international student clients

Objectives: International students attending universities in the United States may encounter psychological distress related to their adjustment and experiences studying in a new context and seek services from university counseling centers. Many centers use the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS) to measure psychological distress in college counseling centers. However, this scale has not been tested for measurement invariance with international students. Our purpose was to explore the measurement invariance of the CCAPS-62 and -34 for international students. Methods: We tested measurement invariance for both versions of the scale using data from over 107,000 university students in psychotherapy at university counseling centers. We also examined construct validity and internal consistency. Results: Invariance testing indicated the measurement models of the CCAPS-62 and -34 are equivalent between both groups. Conclusion: These findings are discussed in light of utilizing this widely-used scale in United States university/college counseling centers with international student clients.

The Presenting Concerns of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients at University Counseling Centers

There is a paucity of research on transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students who present to university counseling centers (UCCs). Using national-level data from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (2012 to 2015), the current findings indicate that TGNC students seeking services at UCCs are presenting with high acuity and more severe concerns than their cisgender peers. This severity is in nearly every clinical domain including suicidality, history of hospitalization, trauma history, mood disorders, and family distress. Comparing the transgender and gender nonconforming (GNC) collegiate clients, GNC clients have the highest levels of distress and clinical symptoms on nearly every indicator. Overall, these findings for both transgender and GNC clients provide important information for UCCs about treatment and outreach to these high-risk populations. Our findings also mirror the mental health disparities seen in noncollegiate community TGNC samples. We discuss treatment implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.