Bruffaerts Ronny, Mortier Philippe, Kiekens Glenn, Auerbach Randy P, Cuijpers Pim, Demyttenaere Koen, Green Jennifer G, Nock Matthew K, Kessler Ronald C
Research Group Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven University, Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum - KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Research Group Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven University, Leuven, Belgium.
J Affect Disord. 2018 Jan 1;225:97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.07.044. Epub 2017 Jul 25.
Mental health problems in college and their associations with academic performance are not well understood. The main aim of this study was to investigate to what extent mental health problems are associated with academic functioning.
As part of the World Mental Health Surveys International College Student project, 12-month mental health problems among freshmen (N = 4921) was assessed in an e-survey of students at KU Leuven University in Leuven, Belgium. The associations of mental health problems with academic functioning (expressed in terms of academic year percentage [or AYP] and grade point average [GPA]) were examined across academic departments.
Approximately one in three freshman reports mental health problems in the past year, with internalizing and externalizing problems both associated with reduced academic functioning (2.9-4.7% AYP reduction, corresponding to 0.2-0.3 GPA reduction). The association of externalizing problems with individual-level academic functioning was significantly higher in academic departments with comparatively low average academic functioning.
Limited sample size precluded further investigation of interactions between department-level and student-level variables. No information was available on freshman secondary school academic performance.
Mental health problems are common in college freshman, and clearly associated with lower academic functioning. Additional research is needed to examine the potentially causal nature of this association, and, if so, whether interventions aimed at treating mental health problems might improve academic performance.
大学生心理健康问题及其与学业成绩的关联尚未得到充分理解。本研究的主要目的是调查心理健康问题在多大程度上与学业功能相关。
作为世界心理健康调查国际大学生项目的一部分，对比利时鲁汶KU鲁汶大学的学生进行了一项电子调查，评估了新生（N = 4921）在过去12个月中的心理健康问题。跨学术部门研究了心理健康问题与学业功能（以学年百分比[或AYP]和平均绩点[GPA]表示）之间的关联。
约三分之一的新生报告在过去一年中有心理健康问题，内化和外化问题均与学业功能下降相关（AYP降低2.9 - 4.7%，相当于GPA降低0.2 - 0.3）。在平均学业功能相对较低的学术部门中，外化问题与个人层面学业功能的关联显著更高。
样本量有限，妨碍了对部门层面和学生层面变量之间相互作用的进一步研究。没有关于新生中学学业成绩的信息。
心理健康问题在大学新生中很常见，且明显与较低的学业功能相关。需要进一步研究来检验这种关联的潜在因果性质，如果存在因果关系，旨在治疗心理健康问题的干预措施是否可能提高学业成绩。
