Down and Out: College Students Experiencing Depressive Symptoms

Survey research that asks respondents to report on depression often ask respondents whether they have been diagnosed with depression by a medical professional. But such questions underestimate depression by leaving out respondents who are unable or unwilling to seek professional help. Thus, other studies seek to ask respondents to report symptoms of various dimensions of depression. This is especially important because, according to the CDC, “persons with mild depressive symptoms, as well as those with moderate or severe depressive symptoms, reported difficulties with work, home, and social activities related to their symptoms”. But some groups are more prone to depression. Given the increased stressors that college students face in their transition to adulthood, coupled with increased exposure to —and participation in—potential health risks including drinking, smoking, and drug usage they face increased risk for experiencing depressive symptoms. This inflated risk for experiencing depressive symptoms often results in one’s academic success and satisfaction with school being negatively affected. This study aims to examine, first, the factors that influence reported depressive symptoms and, second, how the interrelationships among these factors and depressive symptoms are associated with academic success and satisfaction among college students. The data used for this study come from the Healthy Minds Study from the University of Michigan, a preexisting data set that includes 89,486 research subjects collected between 2007-2013. The Healthy Minds Study is an annual web-based survey that strives to examine mental health trends among graduate and undergraduate students who opted into the study. Since the study’s inception in 2007, over 100,000 students from over 100 universities and colleges have been surveyed. This study examines college student’s reported depressive symptoms, the factors associated with depressive symptoms, and how depression symptoms are associated with academic success and rates of retention, building conceptual and empirical models that examine how a broad range of factors are linked to depressive symptoms and academic success in a complex web of disadvantage