Mental health of students in higher education

College Report CR166ConclusionsWhen considering the epidemiology of mental health problems in UK studentsin higher education, it is important to pay attention both to subclinicaldistress and to diagnoses of major mental illness. Sociodemographicfactors associated with symptoms include gender, social class, ethnicityand nationality. In view of the increasing social and cultural diversity of UKstudents, it is possible that there will be a rise in symptom reporting anddiagnosable conditions. The high levels of excessive and hazardous alcoholuse that have been found in UK universities may place students at risk ofother mental disorders.Below are several further considerations for the planning of universityhealth services.Psychiatric disturbance is widely prevalent in the student populationand this may have a significant impact on academic performance.In common with findings in the general population, female studentsreport increased rates of mental health symptoms. The impacts ofsexual victimisation and abuse perpetrated by intimate partners maycontribute to this. There is a need for health promotion efforts to focuson both would-be perpetrators and potential victims to tackle thisproblem.Financial pressures and academic concerns are consistently identifiedas important contributors to mental health symptoms.International students may be more vulnerable to mental healthproblems than UK-born students.Good social networks and peer contacts, as well as religious affiliation,appear to have a protective influence against mental health problems.Further research, using evidence-based diagnostic criteria andassessments of severity, is urgently needed. Sequential prospectivestudies across a range of academic institutions will be required toprovide accurate estimates of the incidence and prevalence of mentaldisorders and to determine whether these are changing over time.These should focus not only on diagnosable mental illnesses but alsoon psychological distress that may not meet standard diagnosticcriteria. It is important that these cover a range of universities,colleges and higher education institutions to reflect the increaseddiversity of the student population. One development that may assistthis process is the use of internet-based survey methods. Nearly allstudents now have a university or college email address. Campuswideemail systems have already been used to recruit cohorts ofstudents. Students seem to be willing to participate in online surveysand response rates have been highly satisfactory (Bewick et al, 2008).Several studies have highlighted the low rates of treatment uptakeby students with mental health issues. There is a need to identify thesocial, cultural and demographic correlates of treatment access and toconsider what steps could be taken to ameliorate this problem.32 http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk