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

Alonso, Jordi; Vilagut, Gemma; Mortier, Philippe; Auerbach, Randy P.; Bruffærts, Ronny; Cuijpers, Pim; Demyttenaere, Koen; Ebert, David Daniel; Ennis, Edel; Gutiérrez–García, Raúl A.; Green, Jennifer; Hasking, Penelope; Lee, Sue; Bantjes, Jason; Nock, Matthew K.; Pinder‐Amaker, Stephanie; Sampson, Nancy A.; Zaslavsky, Alan M.; Kessler, Ronald C.

doi:10.1002/mpr.1750

Cited by 59 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…That anxiety disorders yield higher treatment receipt in college than depression is to some extent counterintuitive. After all, depression remains one of the most burdensome disorders in college, as confirmed with international data (Alonso et al, ; Rotenstein et al, ). Our data contradict the conventional ideas that mood disorders are generally the impetus for receiving mental health care in college, as found in a recent U.S. study (Pedrelli, Borsari, Lipson, Heinze, & Eisenberg, ) and that depression is worldwide among the most highly treated mental disorders with the lowest delays in help seeking (Wang et al, ; Wang, Berglund, Olfson, & Kessler, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

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

Bruffærts

Mortier

Auerbach

et al. 2019

Int J Methods Psych Res

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162

127

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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.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

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

Bruffærts

Mortier

Auerbach

et al. 2019

Int J Methods Psych Res

Self Cite

162

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Results of the present study should be seen in the context of a range of limitations. First, as pointed out in other papers' of this issue (Auerbach et al, ; Bruffaerts et al, ; Alonso, Vilagut et al, ) and related recent papers (Alonso, Mortier et al, ), the response rate in the WMH‐ICS surveys was suboptimal across virtually all sites. Although all reported results are weighted using poststratification weights to adjust for differences between survey respondents and nonrespondents based on socio‐demographic or college‐related characteristics that were made available from university officials, a potential selection bias regarding other variables cannot be excluded.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

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

Ebert

Mortier

Kaehlke

et al. 2019

Int J Methods Psych Res

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270

167

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Background Although mental disorders and suicidal thoughts‐behaviors (suicidal thoughts and behaviors) are common among university students, the majority of students with these problems remain untreated. It is unclear what the barriers are to these students seeking treatment. Aims The aim of this study is to examine the barriers to future help‐seeking and the associations of clinical characteristics with these barriers in a cross‐national sample of first‐year college students. Method As part of the World Mental Health International College Student (WMH‐ICS) initiative, web‐based self‐report surveys were obtained from 13,984 first‐year students in eight countries across the world. Clinical characteristics examined included screens for common mental disorders and reports about suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Multivariate regression models adjusted for socio‐demographic, college‐, and treatment‐related variables were used to examine correlates of help‐seeking intention and barriers to seeking treatment. Results Only 24.6% of students reported that they would definitely seek treatment if they had a future emotional problem. The most commonly reported reasons not to seek treatment among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help were the preference to handle the problem alone (56.4%) and wanting to talk with friends or relatives instead (48.0%). Preference to handle the problem alone and feeling too embarrassed were also associated with significantly reduced odds of having at least some intention to seek help among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help. Having 12‐month major depression, alcohol use disorder, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were also associated with significantly reduced reported odds of the latter outcome. Conclusions The majority of first‐year college students in the WMH‐ICS surveys report that they would be hesitant to seek help in case of future emotional problems. Attitudinal barriers and not structural barriers were found to be the most important reported reasons for this hesitation. Experimental research is needed to determine whether intention to seek help and, more importantly, actual help‐seeking behavior could be increased with the extent to which intervention strategies need to be tailored to particular student characteristics. Given that the preference to handle problems alone and stigma and appear to be critical, there could be value in determining if internet‐based psychological treatments, which can be accessed privately and are often build as self‐help approaches, would be more acceptable than other types of treatments to student who report hesitation about seeking treatment.

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“…Mental health problems are common among university students globally, with the prevalence of 12-month common mental disorders estimated to be above 30% in many universities [1]. Student mental health problems are associated with a range of adverse outcomes, including severe role impairment [2], academic failure [3], and suicidal behaviour [4]. Early intervention and effective treatment lead to improved outcomes and reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with mental disorders.…”

Section: Inequality and Mental Healthcare Utilisation Among First-yeamentioning

confidence: 99%

Inequality and mental healthcare utilisation among first-year university students in South Africa

Bantjes

Saal

Löchner

et al. 2020

Int J Ment Health Syst

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Background: Addressing inequalities in mental healthcare utilisation among university students is important for socio-political transformation, particularly in countries with a history of educational exclusion. Methods: As part of the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative, we investigated inequalities in mental healthcare utilisation among first-year students at two historically "White" universities in South Africa. Data were collected via a web-based survey from first-year university students (n = 1402) to assess 12-month mental healthcare utilisation, common mental disorders, and suicidality. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between sociodemographic variables and mental healthcare utilisation, controlling for common mental disorders and suicidality. Results: A total of 18.1% of students utilised mental healthcare in the past 12 months, with only 28.9% of students with mental disorders receiving treatment (ranging from 28.1% for ADHD to 64.3% for bipolar spectrum disorder). Of those receiving treatment, 52.0% used psychotropic medication, 47.3% received psychotherapy, and 5.4% consulted a traditional healer. Treatment rates for suicidal ideation, plan and attempt were 25.4%, 41.6% and 52.9%, respectively. In multivariate regression models that control for the main effects of mental health variables and all possible joint effects of sociodemographic variables, the likelihood of treatment was lower among males (aOR = 0.57) and Black students (aOR = 0.52). An interaction was observed between sexual orientation and first generation status; among second-generation students, the odds of treatment were higher for students reporting an atypical sexual orientation (aOR = 1.55), while among students with atypical sexual orientations, the likelihood of mental healthcare utilisation was lower for first-generation students (aOR = 0.29). Odds of treatment were significantly elevated among students with major depressive disorder (aOR = 1.88), generalised anxiety disorder (aOR = 2.34), bipolar spectrum disorder (aOR = 4.07), drug use disorder (aOR = 3.45), suicidal ideation (without plan or attempt) (aOR = 2.00), suicide plan (without attempt) (aOR = 3.64) and suicide attempt (aOR = 4.57). Likelihood of treatment increased with level of suicidality, but not number of mental disorders. Conclusion: We found very low mental healthcare treatment utilisation among first-year university students in South Africa, with enduring disparities among historically marginalised groups. Campus-based interventions are needed to

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

Cited by 59 publications

References 43 publications

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

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

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

Inequality and mental healthcare utilisation among first-year university students in South Africa

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