Higher education and mental health: analyses of the LSYPE cohorts

The aim of our research project was to improve our understanding of common mental health problems in young people who attend higher education, compared with those who do not.\ud We investigated:\ud • whether there were differences in symptoms of common mental disorder\ud between these groups;\ud • how these differences changed over time and what might drive them; and\ud • whether the mental health of higher education students compared with the\ud general population has changed during the past decade.\ud We conducted analyses of two large nationally representative cohort studies: the Longitudinal Studies of Young People In England (LSYPE). Both studies started when young people were 13/14 years of age. LSYPE1, known to participants as Next Steps, started in 2004 and LSYPE2, known to participants as Our Future,\ud started in 2013.