Chinese college freshmen's mental health problems and their subsequent help-seeking behaviors: A cohort design (2005-2011).

Fenge Liu,Xiuyun Lin,Xiaoyi Fang,Hongjian Cao,Nan Zhou,Wenrui Chen,Linyuan Deng,Huichun Zhao,Lu Liu,Xiang Yang Zhang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185531

Abstract

Based on cohort data obtained from 13,085 college freshmen’s (2005 to 2011) SCL-90 (the Symptom Check-List-90) reports and their subsequent 4-year psychological counseling help-seeking records, this study examined the association between college students’ mental health problems and help-seeking behaviors across four college years. Female students’ mental health problems and help-seeking behaviors increased from the 2005 to the 2011 cohorts and no changes emerged for male students across cohorts. Overall, male students reported higher levels of mental health problems than did female students in the first college year, whereas female students reported more help-seeking behaviors than did male students in the following four college years. College students’ mental health problems was associated positively with help-seeking behaviors. College students were more likely to seek help from the college psychological counselling center when they experienced relatively few or quite a lot of mental health issues (i.e., an inversed U shape). Implications for future studies and practices are discussed.

Highlights

During the past 10 years, Chinese society has undergone profound and far-reaching changes
This study found an overall increase in mental health problems among college freshmen across cohorts from 2005 to 2011
This study found that college students with mental health problems had a higher percentage of help-seekers than those without mental health problems, but the absolute percentage of the positive group was relatively low

Summary

Introduction

During the past 10 years, Chinese society has undergone profound and far-reaching changes. Within the higher education domain, one of the most notable changes has been the reform of college students’ mental health education, which has expanded and improved dramatically since the initiation in Mainland China in the middle 1980s [1]. Starting from the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese government has placed great emphasis on college students’ mental health education. In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued “the Opinion about Strengthening the College Students’ Mental Health Education” that firmly asserted that colleges should make efforts in providing and improving psychological guidance and consultation services for students and different departments should cooperate with each other to facilitate students’ mental health [2].

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Conclusion