For many of the brightest minds of the future, college stands as a bridge between adolescence and adulthood. It comes with its own challenges, beyond – but including – academic pressures, developing one’s identity, experimenting with the freedoms of newly found independence, exploring career possibilities, establishing friendships, and prioritizing values. Recent studies have highlighted the substantive distress that college students experience across the world, namely in terms of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Additional research is needed to better understand the causes and consequences of mental health problems among college students, as well as effective treatments for psychological problems. Furthermore, we have limited empirical knowledge of what constitutes the “good life” for college students, and so research that examines psychological wellbeing in this population also would be beneficial.
We aim to dive deep into the multiple aspects of college life and the circumstances that may prompt both problematic and optimal mental health. It is hoped this collection will surge research in this area forward and broaden current knowledge of college student mental health. A step back to look at wider factors may also provide insight into how higher education itself could change worldwide, as well as treatment at campus counseling centers.
This Article Collection will solicit manuscripts related to the subjects below. However, we welcome all submissions related to the umbrella topic of college student mental health.
- Transition from compulsory education to college, including for international students, first generation college students, commuting college students, ethnic minority students
- Impact of academic factors (e.g., deadlines, exams, specific majors) on college student mental health, alongside considerations about future endeavors and extra-curricular academic activities
- The effect of non-academic activities (e.g., socializing, peer pressure, technology use, drug use, sleep) on mental health, including factors outside of students’ control such as student loans and debt, safety concerns on campus, and housing and food insecurity
- Optimum treatment strategies, interventions, and policies to promote college student mental health
- Intrapersonal, interpersonal, cultural, and systemic factors that constitute and promote optimal psychological well-being in college students
Instructions for Authors
The following article types will be considered: basic and clinical, as well as epidemiological research, meta-analyses, systematic and scoping reviews, narrative reviews, theoretical pieces, and commentaries.
When submitting your article, please select the Article Collection, ‘College student mental health: Tomorrow’s leaders in peril today ' from the drop-down menu on the submission system.
