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

BackgroundAlthough 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.MethodThe 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).ResultsOne-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.ConclusionsMental 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.

Persist/Dropout Differences In Pre-matriculation Attitudes Of Freshman Towards College Attrition: A Longitudinal Multiple Group Structural Equations Model

This study proposes a structural equations model of college student attrition based on pre-matriculation freshman attitudes. The study uses a survey administered annually from 1995 to 1999 and tracks persistence and dropout behavior for five years until the last cohort graduated. It discusses seven constructs of pre-matriculation freshman attitudes that resemble the Cabrera, Nora, and Castaeda (1993) model of College Persistence that was based on attitudes of first-to-second year enrolled college students. We applied our survey to a Northeastern sectarian private college. Our model includes external factors such as financial attitude, and endogenous variables such as academic reputation, social integration, institutional commitment, goal commitment, academic performance, and intent to persist. In addition to the variables related to the Cabrera model, we added two measures of social integration, political interests and concern-for the disadvantaged because these were suitable to the type of college which hosted the study. Results provide a multiple group comparative and predictive model of student attrition for annual use by the Dean of Student Affairs in designing proactive plans and implementing intervention strategies to enhance student retention.