Addressing collegiate mental health amid COVID-19 pandemic

Yusen Zhai; Xue Du

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113003

Addressing collegiate mental health amid COVID-19 pandemic

Psychiatry Res. 2020 Jun:288:113003. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113003. Epub 2020 Apr 17.

Authors

Yusen Zhai¹, Xue Du²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. Electronic address: zhai@psu.edu.
² Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.

Abstract

College students encounter unique challenges leading to poor mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Before the pandemic started, one in five college students experienced one or more diagnosable mental disorders worldwide. The fact that the COVID-19 pandemic affects collegiate mental health underscores the urgent need to understand these challenges and concerns in order to inform the development of courses of action and public health messaging that can better support college students in this crisis. This article provides recommendations that prepare higher education institutions and health professionals for addressing collegiate mental health needs and challenges posed by COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Collegiate mental health; Higher education.

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections / psychology*
Health Communication*
Health Personnel
Humans
Mental Health*
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral / psychology*
Public Health
SARS-CoV-2
Students / psychology*
Universities
Young Adult