Presentation
College student depression: Prevalence and differences by transfer status
American Public Health Association
(2018)
Abstract
Depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States. A recent national survey found the prevalence of depression among community college students to be higher (35.6%) than among students at 4-year institutions (24.4%). There is little prior research comparing students who transfer from community college to 4-year institutions with students who begin their college career at a 4-year institution (“continuous” students). We conducted this study to assess whether there are differences in the prevalence of depression between transfer and continuous students within the same major at a large, comprehensive public university. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of upper division Public Health majors at a large, comprehensive public university (N=363). Student researchers visited public health courses and invited classmates to take the anonymous paper survey over a two-week period in February 2018. The survey consisted of a demographic module and questions about transfer status, family educational attainment, and living situation. We assessed depression status using the PHQ-9, socioeconomic status using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status, and experiences of discrimination using the Expanded Everyday Discrimination Scale. Results: Just over half of our sample were transfer students. While there were few differences in transfer status by race, ethnicity, and gender, transfer students were generally older than continuous students. Preliminary analyses show that the prevalence of any depression in our student population was 58%, with 28% classified with mild depression, 22% moderate depression, 5% moderately severe depression, and 3% severe depression. Suicidal ideation was common with 16% of surveyed students reporting thoughts of self-harm in the past two weeks. There were differences by transfer status at each level of depression (Prevalence Ratios comparing transfer to continuous students were 1.07 for mild, 1.10 for moderate, 1.50 for moderately severe, 2.00 for severe depression, and 1.96 for suicidal ideation). Conclusions: Transfer students are a vulnerable population on college campuses. Schools should evaluate whether programming specifically targeted at the mental, socio-emotional, and material needs of transfer students is appropriate and, if so, provide such targeted programming.
Keywords
- Depression,
- College Students
Disciplines
Publication Date
November 12, 2018
Location
San Diego, CA
Citation Information
Michelle Laine, Justin Menchaca, Justin Carbonel, Daniel Cao, et al.. "College student depression: Prevalence and differences by transfer status" American Public Health Association (2018) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/miranda_worthen/33/