Trends in college students’ mental health diagnoses and utilization of services, 2009–2015

Abstract

Objective: To examine changes in diagnoses/treatment for 12 mental health (MH) conditions, previous use of campus MH services, and willingness to seek MH services in the future. Participants: ACHA–NCHA II participants from 2009 to 2015 (n?=?454,029). Methods: Hierarchical binary logistic regression with step 1 controlling for demographics and step 2 considering time. Results: Time was significant except for bipolar disorder, bulimia, and schizophrenia with increases for all conditions except substance abuse. Anxiety (OR?=?1.68), panic attacks (OR?=?1.61), and ADHD (OR?=?1.40) had the highest odd ratios. Use of MH services at current institution (OR?=?1.30) and willingness to utilize services in the future (OR?=?1.37) also increased over time. Conclusions: Based on a national sample, self-reported diagnoses/treatment of several MH conditions are increasing among college students. This examination of a variety of MH issues can aid college health professionals to engage institutional stakeholders regarding the resources needed to support college students’ MH.     

Discriminating positive and negative aspects of pet interaction: Sex differences in the older population

Although pet interacters from a sample of 250 persons over 50 years of age generally report receiving more intense uplifts than hassles from their pets (Chi Square = 26.7, p<0.001), there are also differences seen within this group. More specifically, differences are seen in regard to relationships between reported hassles and uplifts from pets, and socializing, life situation, and gender. For example, pet interacters who report a great deal of uplift from pets also report doing things with friends more frequently than do interacters who report only slight uplift from pets (t=2.38, p<0.05). Importantly, pets also appear to serve different roles for female and for male pet interacters, and for pet interacters in different circumstances. Uplifts from pets are associated with leisure and lack of psychological pressure for females, but are related to hassles with social interactions, time, and money for males. Contrastingly, females who report hassles from pets report hassles in the areas of free time, money, and health, but uplifts from social interactions. Human interactions with pets frequently contribute to quality of life and these interactions merit further study.     

Why are cohabiting relationships more violent than marriages?

In response to increases in cohabitation in the United States, researchers have recently focused on differences between cohabiting and marital unions. One consistent finding is a higher rate of domestic violence among cohabiting couples as compared with married couples. A prominent explanation for this finding is that cohabitation is governed by a different set of institutionalized controls than marriage. This article explores an alternative explanation, namely, that differences in selection out of cohabitation and marriage, including selection of the least-violent cohabiting couples into marriage and the most-violent married couples into divorce, lead to higher observed rates of violence among cohabiting couples in cross-sectional samples. Our results suggest that researchers should be cautious when making comparisons between married and cohabiting couples in which the dependent variable of interest is related to selection into and out of relationship status.     

The roles of child support enforcement and welfare in non-marital childbearing

This paper examines the effects of stronger child support enforcement and declines in welfare benefits on changes in non-marital childbearing between 1980 and 1996. Economic theory suggests that stricter child support enforcement will increase the costs of children for unwed fathers, making them less likely to have a child outside marriage. Reductions in welfare benefits also are expected to increase the costs of non-marital childbearing for both mothers and fathers. We examine these hypotheses, using aggregate state-level data and fixed effects regression models to identify the effects of policies on non-marital birth rates. We find that both stricter child support enforcement and declines in welfare benefits deter non-marital births. However, the estimated effects of child support enforcement are more robust and larger than those of welfare. The estimates imply that in the 1980–1996 period, increases in child support enforcement led to a decline in non-marital birth rates in the range of 6% to 9%, whereas decreases in welfare benefits led to a decline in the range of 2% to 4%. Received: 28 June 2000/Accepted: 17 September 2001