Boston University School of Public Health, Department of Health Law Policy and Management, 715 Albany Street, Room 264W, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
Wayne State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Public Health, 2155 Old Main 4841 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2022 Jun 1;306:138-147. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.03.038. Epub 2022 Mar 18.
A considerable gap in knowledge exists around mental health trends in diverse racial and ethnic adolescent and young adult populations. The purpose of this study is to examine annual trends for mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity in a national sample of college students.
Survey data come from >350,000 students at 373 campuses that participated in the Healthy Minds Study between 2013 and 2021. Analyses are descriptive in nature focusing on year-by-year prevalence and help-seeking rates for each racial/ethnic group.
In 2020-2021, >60% of students met criteria for one or more mental health problems, a nearly 50% increase from 2013. Mental health worsened among all groups over the study period. American Indian/Alaskan Native students experienced the largest increases in depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and meeting criteria for one or more mental health problem. Students of color had the lowest rates of mental health service utilization. The highest annual rate of past-year treatment for Asian, Black, and Latinx students was at or below the lowest rate for White students. Although Arab American students experienced a 22% increase in prevalence, there was an 18% decrease in treatment.
Response rates raise the potential of nonresponse bias. Sample weights adjust along known characteristics, but there may be differences on unobserved characteristics.
Findings have important implications for campus mental health programming and underscore the urgency of reducing mental health inequalities in college student populations through the identification and implementation of best practices both in clinical settings and through system-level change.
不同种族和族裔的青少年和年轻成年人的心理健康趋势方面存在着相当大的知识差距。本研究的目的是在全国大学生样本中检查种族/族裔的心理健康和寻求帮助的年度趋势。
调查数据来自于 2013 年至 2021 年期间参加“健康心灵研究”的 373 个校区的 35 万多名学生。分析是描述性的，主要关注每个种族/族裔群体的年度流行率和寻求帮助的比率。
在 2020-2021 年，超过 60%的学生符合一个或多个心理健康问题的标准，比 2013 年增加了近 50%。在整个研究期间，所有群体的心理健康状况都有所恶化。美国印第安人/阿拉斯加原住民学生的抑郁、焦虑、自杀意念和符合一个或多个心理健康问题标准的比例增幅最大。有色人种学生的心理健康服务利用率最低。过去一年接受治疗的亚裔、非裔和拉丁裔学生的年最高比率与白人学生的最低比率相同或更低。尽管阿拉伯裔美国学生的患病率增加了 22%，但治疗率却下降了 18%。
回复率增加了无回应偏差的可能性。样本权重根据已知特征进行调整，但在未观察到的特征上可能存在差异。
这些发现对校园心理健康计划具有重要意义，并强调通过在临床环境中以及通过系统层面的变革，确定和实施最佳实践，减少大学生群体中的心理健康不平等现象的紧迫性。
