A large proportion of students with significant mental health problems do not receive any treatment, according to an increasingly rich base of epidemiological data. This underscores the importance of screening, gatekeeper training, and other strategies to identify and link students to treatment. In addition, there is increasing recognition that campus settings have many channels by which to create an environment that supports positive mental health.
The following is a brief overview of some of the new projects underway at the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Depression Center and their potential relevance for practitioners in the college mental health field.
Healthy Minds Study
The Healthy Minds Study is an online survey of student mental health and help-seeking behavior. Led by Daniel Eisenberg, a faculty member at the Depression Center and the School of Public Health, the study has been fielded at 48 campuses nationwide since 2007, and is continuing as an annual national survey in 2011 and beyond. Campuses in the study have used the data on their students for a number of purposes, such as advocating for additional resources (from higher administration and grant programs), evaluating programs, and planning service needs.
The most recent research with the national data illustrates substantial variations across campuses in mental health issues; for example, campuses range from 12% to 27% in the prevalence of positive screens for depression, and from 20% to 58% in the prevalence of treatment use among those with apparent mental health problems. For campus practitioners and administrators, this illustrates the importance of examining the conditions specific to each individual campus. Another notable finding from research with Healthy Minds data is the connection between depression and academic outcomes. A recent study finds that depressed students have substantially lower GPAs and are approximately twice as likely as non-depressed students to drop out of school. More information on the Healthy Minds Study can be found at www.healthymindsstudy.net.
Residential life and mental health
In a set of new studies, Eisenberg and colleagues are investigating the role of campus residential life for student mental health. One study funded by the William T. Grant Foundation is examining how students’ mental health and help-seeking behavior is influenced by their roommates and resident advisors (RAs). One of the notable preliminary findings is that depression is somewhat “contagious” among male roommates but not contagious among female roommates.
In another study, Eisenberg is partnering with Nicole Speer at the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education to evaluate the effectiveness of a gatekeeper training program, Mental Health First Aid, for RAs on college campuses. This National Institute of Mental Health-funded study involves 32 campuses nationwide, and is the largest multi-campus randomized trial of a community-based intervention for mental health in college settings. The results from the study, which will emerge next year, will represent some of the most rigorous evidence to date on the effectiveness of gatekeeper training programs.
e-Bridge: an innovative online approach for screening and linkage
A team of Depression Center and Department of Psychiatry researchers led by Cheryl King is developing and testing a new online intervention, e-Bridge, which aims to identify students with depression and other risk factors for suicide and link them to treatment and other supportive services. Like the Interactive Screening Project led by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), this intervention uses an online screen to identify students with elevated risk, and then engages them in an online dialogue about options for supportive services.
A key innovation in Dr. King’s project, which is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), is the use of motivational interviewing (MI) as the basic approach for engaging students in the online dialogues. The intervention is currently being evaluated through pilot randomized control trials, and the researchers expect to start reporting preliminary results in 2011. As this project evolves, it has the potential to deliver a new, cost-effective approach for college campuses to reach students at elevated risk.
The work continues…
Since 2003 the Depression Center has organized the annual Depression on College Campuses Conference. The conference will be held March 28-29, 2011, and will focus on early intervention and prevention. Additionally, a number of faculty members at the Depression Center have recently developed research projects that reflect this public health approach in various ways.
For more information about the annual Depression on College Campuses Conference or to register, visit http://www.depressioncenter.org/docc/
Established in 2001, the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) is the first center of its kind devoted entirely to bringing depression into the mainstream of medical research, care, education and public policy. It is at the forefront in changing the paradigm of how depression is understood and treated.