Psychological health and academic success in college students: An exploratory cross-sectional study

Background/Purpose: United States college graduates tend to have higher median salaries, lower unemployment rates, better health throughout life, and increased life expectancy than less educated Americans. Most health and academic performance research has been conducted with primary and secondary school students. The few studies reported on college students used just one or two measures of academic performance and focused on one specific health indicator such as depression. The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between students' perception of their overall psychological health and the following measures of academic performance: considering dropping out of college, grade point average (GPA), and credit hours.

Methods: Students entering the Student Health Services facility of a large Florida University between March 30 and April 9 2015 completed an anonymous 65-item web-based questionnaire. Chi-square tests were used to analyze categorical data, and Fisher’s exact test was used when chi-square assumptions were not met.

Results/Outcomes:The majority of 265 survey participants were between 18 and 22 years old (60.0%), female (63.4%), single (88.7%), Hispanic (46.0%) or White/Non-Hispanic (20.8%), and enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program (79.2%). About two thirds reported a GPA between 3.0 and 4.0 (65.7%). Participants were enrolled in an average of 12.3 ± 4.1 credit hours during the spring 2015 semester. For Hispanic students, students 18-22 years old, and students enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program, those who reported better psychological health had higher GPAs and were enrolled in more credit hours (P < 0.05). For students who were 18-22 years old, enrolled in a Bachelor’s Degree program and either Hispanic or non-Hispanic white, those who seriously considered dropping out of college during the current academic year rated their psychological health more poorly than those who denied such consideration (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:Perceived psychological health among students visiting student health services was associated with several indicators of academic success at a major Florida university. Services are provided at the facility to help students cope with stress and other psychological concerns. Colleges should consider enhancing on-campus psychological health services as a cost-effective strategy for improving academic success and graduation rates.