Inside the nation’s largest study of college student mental health
By Kelsey Keeves
The nation’s largest mental health study, administered by the University of Michigan School of Public Health, is creating resources to empower administrators to make mental health care more accessible to college students around the country.
Launched nearly two decades ago at the School of Public Health, the Healthy Minds Study is a survey focused on the many factors that contribute to the mental health and overall well-being of college students.
Designed to assess the current state of an institution’s student population, the survey uses questions focused on topics related to lifestyle and health behaviors, attitudes and awareness, service utilization and help-seeking behaviors.
Rather than following individuals over time, which would be cost-prohibitive, the survey takes a series of cross-sections of students. Each year, more than 70,000 students participate, creating a picture of the current mental health of college students on a national level. The data collected by the survey over the past 19 years makes it a key resource for policy makers and school administrators looking for a picture of how mental health has changed over time.
Participating schools can use the data for benchmarking to better understand how their students are doing compared to those at similar schools across the country. Schools can also use the data to guide how to spend resources and what mental health support programs to offer on campus. At a national level, federal organizations like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, as well as major mental health non-profits like the JED Foundation, use data from the study to inform strategic decisions.
“In any given year, we have a pretty good idea of how students are doing and where there may be differences, but that’s just a cross-section, a snapshot,” said Justin Heinze, associate professor of health behavior and health equity and co-principal investigator of the study. “We want to understand where the prevalence of mental health disorders, say, or perhaps rates of stigma related to mental health or something positive, are changing over time. Trends can help identify widening disparities but also direct resources to support schools facing these challenges.”
Between 80 and 100 schools and colleges participate every year, including liberal arts colleges, community colleges and large research universities. The survey is designed in modules, with a standard core module that is included across all surveys, and additional elective modules that schools can choose based on their focus. It is uniquely useful to researchers because of its reach, flexibility and scope.
Heinze hopes the survey can also be used to raise awareness of the resources available on campuses, and most importantly, to destigmatize mental health and help-seeking behaviors.
“In any given year, we have a pretty good idea of how students are doing and where there may be differences, but that’s just a cross-section, a snapshot. We want to understand where the prevalence of mental health disorders, say, or perhaps rates of stigma related to mental health or something positive, are changing over time. Trends can help identify widening disparities but also direct resources to support schools facing these challenges.”
“We’ve always asked two forms of stigma – how does the respondent feel about people receiving treatment for mental health and how does the respondent think other people feel about people receiving treatment for mental health. Historically, the latter has always been much more negative,” Heinze said. “So even trying to show that most people really don’t think it’s a weakness to be in therapy or to seek support for your mental health challenges can be a comfort.”
He said he also encourages administrators to use the data to make strategic decisions about where resources could make the greatest possible impact. By using the survey’s data, in collaboration with administrative data that is already available, schools can make strategic, targeted choices about how to assist students.
“I am an educational psychologist at heart,” Heinze said. “I’m fascinated by how people learn and the environments we need to create that are most conducive to learning. But it doesn’t take an educational psychologist to tell you that students can’t optimize their learning if they are struggling with their mental health.”