College has always been demanding, but a recent study indicates freshmen are facing record levels of stress. The study, conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, determined freshman emotional health is at a record low.
Only 51.9 percent of students surveyed responded that their levels of mental health were within the "highest 10 percent" or "above average" range. That's a 3.4 percent drop from last year's figure and represents a significant decrease from the 63.6 percent of students who claimed the same emotional status in 1985, the first year that the survey was conducted.
The survey also found that females were more troubled than males. Only 45.9 percent of female students surveyed reported high levels of emotional health, compared to 59.1 of males. The same trend has developed among high school students, as well. Female seniors were more than twice as likely to feel overwhelmed than males.\nAlthough the causes of this decline in emotional stability are not definitive, Linda DeAngelo, assistant director for research at the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, speculated that the current financial situation may play a role.
"This data suggests that students are having more concerns about financing their education and making choices about where they're going to attend based on money," DeAngelo said. "The economic situation affects families directly. We see more stresses about finances, and we also have more parents that are being unemployed."
The Institute conducted the study by collecting data from more than 200,000 full-time freshmen at 279 different American universities and colleges. The data is statistically significant and represents the emotional health of more than 1.5 million full-time freshmen who matriculated to four-year institutions in 2010.
John H. Pryor, lead author of the report and director of CIRP, said he believes college students are facing more pressure to succeed.
"High levels of drive to achieve and academic ability could also contribute to students' feelings of stress," Pryor said.
The survey reflected that sentiment. It found that 75.8 percent of the students surveyed, the most in the 25-year history of the study, rated their drive to achieve as "above average" or in the "highest 10 percent." Similarly, 71.2 percent of these students rated their academic achievement within the same categories.
"Certainly, we would hope that next year's class of freshman will not yield another dip in emotional stress," DeAngelo said.
J. Anderson Thomson, staff psychiatrist at the University's Student Health Center, said students can take several steps to stay emotionally healthy.
"Learn to say no," Thomson said. "Limit alcohol. Avoid marijuana. Spread academic requirements into J-Term and summer school. Find and make good friends. And if you need help, secure it. Don't wait until trouble has turned into disaster"
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