212159 Assessing the Prevalence of Anxiety among University of Florida Students and their Awareness, Utilization, and Satisfaction with Campus Mental Health Services

Monday, November 9, 2009

Tiffany Rose Winston, BA , College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Chandylen Pendley, BS , College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Tamara N. Crawford, BSHE , College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Pachia D. Dixon, PharmD , College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Farheen Akbar, BS , College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of anxiety among University of Florida (UF) students as well as to assess their awareness, utilization, and satisfaction with the campus mental health services. A tool was created for the purpose of the study and was administered to undergraduate and graduate students (n =194) during their class time. The sample compromised of 71.6% females and 28.4% males. Ages ranged from 18 to 56 years, with the majority of the participants in the age range of 18 to 25 years (92.1%). Within the sample, 10.9% of participants reported being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder by a health care provider; however, 79.4% of the participants reported experiencing anxiety during their time at UF. While the majority of students (79.2%) reported being aware of mental health services on campus, only 8.8% of the students were actually aware of all the locations of these services. Results show that only 17% of students have utilized campus mental health services and of those, 26.4% were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with these services.

Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to identify that mental health issues among college students is omnipresent. Participants will also be able to evaluate the need for increased awareness of campus mental health services as well as furthering efforts to increase student satisfaction with these services.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have performed extensive literature reviews that have informed me of the increasing problems of mental health illnesses on college campuses.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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