New Survey Offers Insights on Student Mental Health Heading Into the Spring Term

Title: Spring 2022 Back-to-School Survey to Assess Mental Health and Emotional Concerns Regarding COVID-19

Source: TimelyMD

As students and colleges begin a new term, a nationwide survey of nearly 1,700 students enrolled at two-year and four-year institutions offers insights on students’ mental health and perspectives on their institutions’ response to COVID-19.

Findings from the survey fielded by TimelyMD include:

• Eight-eight percent of students believe there is a mental health crisis on U.S. college campuses, while 70 percent students reported experiencing anxiety or emotional distress due to the ongoing pandemic.
• Students were most likely to report that the pandemic has caused them stress and anxiety due to its impact on the quality of their education (54 percent), the impact on their social life (54 percent), and physical separation or isolation from friends or family (48 percent).
• Spending time talking to friends or family in-person (58 percent) and use of video, FaceTime, or phone calls with friends or family (56 percent) are methods students report most frequently using to cope with stress or anxiety due to the ongoing pandemic.
• Sixty-four percent of students shared they intend to seek out emotional support to manage their stress or anxiety this academic year.
• Students were most likely to report preference for their institution to provide more remote health and well-being support in the form of student health or mental health services, such as telehealth (48 percent) and provide more remote social support/sense of belonging (41 percent).

More information on the survey and findings can be found here.

—Danielle Melidona