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Too Distressed to Learn? Mental Health Among Community College Students

March 1, 2016

A new study at 10 community colleges across the nation reveals that half of the more than 4,000 community college students surveyed are experiencing a current or recent mental health condition. Less than half of these students are receiving any mental health services. Students age 25 and younger are especially likely to have an untreated mental health condition. As mental illness can impair academic success and quality of life, there is a clear need for greater attention to and resources for mental health services and programs on community college campuses.

School Participation Guide: Academic Year 2015-2016

February 24, 2016

HMS is an annual web-based survey study examining mental health, service utilization, and related issues among undergraduate and graduate students. Since its national launch in 2007, HMS has been fielded at over 100 colleges and universities, with over 100,000 survey respondents. What is unique about HMS? HMS is one of the only annual surveys of college and university populations that focuses exclusively on mental health and related issues, allowing for substantial detail in this area. The study has a special emphasis on understanding service utilization and help-seeking behavior, including factors such as stigma, knowledge, and the role of peers and other potential gatekeepers. The study also allows colleges and universities to examine how mental health symptoms predict academic outcomes (GPA and retention), which is translated into an economic case for mental health services and programs.

The Healthy Bodies Study: 2015 Data Report

January 1, 2016

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common in undergraduate and graduate student populations. Previous campus mental health research has focused primarily on depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance use. Considerably less is known about eating disorders relative to other mental health problems common in student populations. This is particularly true when considering that eating disorders, like other mental health problems, exist along a continuum of severity. Where much attention has been paid to subclinical depression and anxiety in national epidemiological campus-based research, measures of disordered eating have typically been reduced to but a handful of questions about specific behaviors, often described in clinical terms. While important studies have addressed eating disorders in specifically defined student sub-groups (e.g., sorority women, female athletes, students from certain academic departments), these are usually single-site studies with limited generalizability. HBS takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level.An annual web-based survey, HBS aims to understand students' relationships with eating, dieting, exercising, and body image, and how these relationships, in turn, fit into a larger picture of student health and well-being. HBS seeks to explore the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction, and the extent to which students with apparent need are utilizing mental health resources. Through close collaborations with campus practitioners and national mental health organizations, HBS researchers strive to inform policy and practice on college and university campuses. HBS is administered to a randomly selected sample of undergraduate and graduate students at participating institutions. An important contribution to the field of college student mental health, HBS addresses the diversity of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes among the diversity of students on college and university campuses today.

The Healthy Bodies Study: 2014 Data Report

January 1, 2015

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common in undergraduate and graduate student populations. Previous campus mental health research has focused primarily on depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance use. Considerably less is known about eating disorders relative to other mental health problems common in student populations. This is particularly true when considering that eating disorders, like other mental health problems, exist along a continuum of severity. Where much attention has been paid to subclinical depression and anxiety in national epidemiological campus-based research, measures of disordered eating have typically been reduced to but a handful of questions about specific behaviors, often described in clinical terms. While important studies have addressed eating disorders in specifically defined student sub-groups (e.g., sorority women, female athletes, students from certain academic departments), these are usually single-site studies with limited generalizability. HBS takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level.An annual web-based survey, HBS aims to understand students' relationships with eating, dieting, exercising, and body image, and how these relationships, in turn, fit into a larger picture of student health and well-being. HBS seeks to explore the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction, and the extent to which students with apparent need are utilizing mental health resources. Through close collaborations with campus practitioners and national mental health organizations, HBS researchers strive to inform policy and practice on college and university campuses.HBS is administered to a randomly selected sample of undergraduate and graduate students at participating institutions. An important contribution to the field of college student mental health, HBS addresses the diversity of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes among the diversity of students on college and university campuses today.