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Students with disabilities are a growing population on college and university campuses across the United States. Despite this, the mental health status and service utilization of students with disabilities remain largely understudied. From a public health perspective, large-scale research is needed to understand the mental and behavioral health needs of these students and inform evidence-based intervention and prevention efforts. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of mental health symptoms and rates of mental health help-seeking in a national sample of college students with disabilities (N=6,382) and to compare these outcomes to a national sample of students without registered disabilities (N=86,966). The large and diverse sample drawn from 60 campuses provides a valuable opportunity to explore mental health variations within the population of students with disabilities. Results demonstrate that students with disabilities have significantly higher prevalence rates of mental health problems and are more likely to utilize mental health services compared to students without disabilities. Overall, students with disabilities report finances and a lack of convenience as the main reasons for accessing fewer counseling sessions. The findings of this population-level analysis can provide insight into the mental and behavioral health needs of students with disabilities. In doing so, this study can inform disability service providers and deans of students on college campuses of the significance of addressing the mental health needs of a highly vulnerable population.

Objective: To understand how the college environment might influence mental health help-seeking in Asian American undergraduates. Participants: Participants were 19 Asian American undergraduates recruited through Facebook. Methods: Participants were interviewed about attitudes toward mental health and mental health help-seeking, and thematic analysis with both inductive and deductive codes was used to analyze interview transcripts. Results: Several factors specific to the college environment encourage students to seek help: social support provided by peers and by campuses, psychological distance from home, and physical distance from home. However, other Asian American-specific factors discourage students from seeking help, such as cultural factors and stigma surrounding mental health issues. Conclusions: The college environment may encourage help-seeking, while Asian American-specific factors may discourage it. Potential interventions based on these findings may increase help-seeking rates by focusing on these encouraging factors in a culturally-sensitive way.

In light of rising academic stress and an increase in diagnosed mental illnesses among adolescents and young adults, this article offers the first comprehensive analysis of relationships between perceived competition and depression/anxiety among college students. Analyses were conducted by using clinically validated instruments for depression and anxiety and a diverse, national sample of 40,350 undergraduates from 70 institutions. Multivariate logistic regressions reveal that high levels of perceived competition in one's classes are associated with increased risks of depression and anxiety, especially among queer, first-generation, Black, and Latino/a students. Discrimination and peer support moderate these relationships, suggesting avenues for future research and educational interventions.

This chapter describes why resilience and mental health deserve more attention in efforts to increase student retention. The chapter offers practical suggestions for campus administrators and others.

This article explores variations in mental health and service utilization across academic disciplines using a random sample of undergraduate and graduate students (N = 64,519) at 81 colleges and universities. We report prevalence of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and self-injury, and rates of help-seeking across disciplines, including results from multivariate logistic regressions. We find significant variations: Students in humanities and art and design are significantly more likely to have mental health problems; and for students with apparent mental health problems, treatment rates are lowest among those in business and engineering. Noting these variations could enhance efforts to promote student mental health, particularly within academic departments.