Lifetime and 12‐month treatment for mental disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among first year college students

Abstract

Objectives Mental disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) are common and burdensome among college students. Although available evidence suggests that only a small proportion of the students with these conditions receive treatment, broad‐based data on patterns of treatment are lacking. The aim of this study is to examine the receipt of mental health treatment among college students cross‐nationally. Methods Web‐based self‐report surveys were obtained from 13,984 first year students from 19 colleges in eight countries across the world as part of the World Health Organization's World Mental Health–International College Student Initiative. The survey assessed lifetime and 12‐month common mental disorders/STB and treatment of these conditions. Results Lifetime and 12‐month treatment rates were very low, with estimates of 25.3–36.3% for mental disorders and 29.5–36.1% for STB. Treatment was positively associated with STB severity. However, even among severe cases, lifetime and 12‐month treatment rates were never higher than 60.0% and 45.1%, respectively. Conclusions High unmet need for treatment of mental disorders and STB exists among college students. In order to resolve the problem of high unmet need, a reallocation of resources may focus on innovative, low‐threshold, inexpensive, and scalable interventions.

Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first‐year college students: First cross‐national results from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative

“…Twelve‐month suicide ideation was reported by 8.8% of the respondents who would not definitely seek treatment, and 7.8% reported a 12‐month suicide plan. Patterns of service use among these students as a function of 12‐month disorders are reported elsewhere in this issue (Bruffaerts et al, ).…”

“…Despite the wide availability and efficacy of clinical interventions (Cuijpers et al, ), the vast majority of college students with clinically significant mental disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors remain untreated even in high income countries (Auerbach et al, ; Blanco et al, ; Demyttenaere et al, ; Eisenberg et al, ; Larisch et al, ; Mortier et al, ). Cross‐national data suggest that less than one in four students with any 12‐month mental disorder or suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) receives any kind of treatment (Bruffaerts et al, ), with 12‐month disorder‐specific treatment rates ranging from 19.8% for alcohol use disorder to 42% for panic disorder.…”

“…Structural supply shortfalls doubtlessly are at least partially responsible for these low treatment rates. However, recent studies suggest that a large number of affected students do not make use of treatments even when they are available (Bruffaerts et al, ). Known barriers to treatment include the perception that treatment is not needed, lack of time, perceived stigma, and preference for self‐management (Eisenberg, Hunt, & Speer, , Vidourek, King, Nabors, & Merianos, ).…”

The role impairment associated with mental disorder risk profiles in the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative

“…As discussed in a number of the other papers in this special issue, the existence of inexpensive evidence‐based online interventions with proven effectiveness could help address this problem (Cuijpers, Kleiboer, Karyotaki, & Riper, ; Ebert et al, ). This approach could be of special value among college students, who have ready access to, and familiarity with, computers and given their low levels of use of conventional mental health services (Bruffaerts et al, under review; Thorley, ).…”

Introduction to the special issue: The WHO World Mental Health International College Student (WMH‐ICS) initiative

“…In the next paper, Bruffaerts et al (this issue) investigate the receipt of treatment among college students with mental disorders. As detailed in that paper, treatment rates are consistently low across all the colleges surveyed in WMH‐ICS.…”