Document Tag: mental health

No food for thought: Food insecurity is related to poor mental health and lower academic performance among students in California’s public university system (2018)

This study examined the relationships between food insecurity, mental health, and academic performance among college students in a California public university system (N = 8705). Structural equation modeling was performed to examine a direct path from food insecurity to student grade point average and an indirect path through mental health, controlling for demographic characteristics. Food insecurity was related to lower student grade point average directly and indirectly through poor mental health. These findings support the need for future interventions and policy on the importance of providing students with the basic needs to succeed both academically and in the future.

Navigating the Mental Health Provider Shortage in Higher Education (2023)

Since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, there has been a renewed focus on postsecondary mental
health. A growing body of evidence draws explicit links between student mental health and their
likelihood of entering and persisting through higher education, highlighting a truth that mental
health professionals and postsecondary leaders deeply understand in the years following the
pandemic: mental health is a basic need critical to student persistence and academic success.
In response to this need, the Trellis Foundation launched the two-year Postsecondary Mental Health
and Wellbeing Learning Community to support student mental health and academic success.

No Food for Thought: Insights on Basic Needs Insecurities and Mental Health Challenges from Trellis’ Fall 2020 Student Financial Wellness Survey (2022)

More than half of students were experiencing one or more basic need insecurities at the time of the survey—50 percent of four- year students and 54 percent of two-year students. • Nearly one in ten students— nine percent—had experienced homelessness, food insecurity, and housing insecurity within the past year (from October/November 2019 to October/November 2020). • The majority of respondents with BNI reported the COVID-19 outbreak had added to their levels of stress, anxiety, or depression— 89 percent at two-year colleges and 92 percent at four-year institutions. • Respondents with demonstrated basic needs insecurities were more likely to work while enrolled, identify as a first-generation student, be female, and financially support children or other dependents.

Too Distressed to Learn? Mental Health Among Community College Students (2016)

A new study at 10 community colleges across the nation reveals that half of
the more than 4,000 community college students surveyed are experiencing
a current or recent mental health condition. Less than half of these students
are receiving any mental health services. Students age 25 and younger are
especially likely to have an untreated mental health condition. As mental
illness can impair academic success and quality of life, there is a clear
need for greater attention to and resources for mental health services and
programs on community college campuses.

Self-reported COVID-19 infection and implications for mental health and food insecurity among American college students (2022)

While the COVID-19 pandemic affected mental health and increased food insecurity across the general population, less is known about the virus’s impact on college students. A fall 2020 survey of more than 100,000 students at 202 colleges and universities in 42 states reveals sociodemographic variation in self-reported infections, as well as associations between self-reported infection and food insecurity and mental health. We find that 7% of students self-reported a COVID-19 infection, with sizable differences by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parenting status, and student athlete status. Students who self-reported COVID-19 infections were more likely to experience food insecurity, anxiety, and depression. Implications for higher education institutions, policy makers, and students are discussed.

Basic Needs Insecurity and Mental Health: Community College Students’ Dual Challenges and Use of Social Support (2022)

The objective of this study is to examine the potential co-occurrence of basic needs insecurity and mental health problems among community college students. These barriers to student success are gaining significant attention from college leaders and scholars, but they are often addressed in isolation, ignoring the potential reinforcing nature of these challenges. We use data from a national survey of community college students to examine the relationship between experiences of basic needs insecurity and mental health problems, and investigate the support systems that students rely on for help. Findings indicate that students who experience basic needs insecurity are substantively and significantly more likely than their materially secure peers to report depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, planning, or attempt, even after accounting for background characteristics. Those with both food and housing insecurities are even more likely to report mental health problems and the likelihood is positively associated with severity of material hardship. Given limited institutional supports, students often rely on friends or family for emotional and mental support. Receipt of social support is higher among those with mental health challenges, but it also varies by students’ basic needs security status. This suggests that students facing the dual challenges of basic needs insecurity and mental health problems may have exhausted this important social resource.