University students in England are slightly more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than those not in higher education, according to a new study.
The paper, published in The Lancet Public Health, is the first to find “concerning” evidence of worse mental health among higher education students than among their peers.
But the researchers, led by those from UCL, found that the difference had disappeared by age 25.
They conducted two studies of 18 to 19-year-olds using data from the Longitudinal Studies of Young People in England – one for those born in 1989-90 and one for those born in 1998-99, meaning their studies were not affected by disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.
Participants – around 11,000 across both studies – completed surveys about their general mental health to investigate symptoms of depression, anxiety and social dysfunction at multiple points over the years.
The researchers found a small difference in symptoms of depression and anxiety at age 18-19 between students and non-students, which Gemma Lewis, lead author, said was “concerning”.
This association remained even when researchers adjusted for socioeconomic status, parents’ education and alcohol use.
“The first couple of years of higher education are a crucial time for development,” said Dr Lewis. “If we could improve the mental health of young people during this time it could have long term benefits for their health and well-being, as well as for their educational achievement and longer-term success.”
The analysis suggests that if the potential mental health risks of attending higher education were eliminated, the incidence of depression and anxiety could be reduced by 6 per cent among people aged between 18 and 19.
Researchers say that the small difference in increased risk between students and non-students is reassuring for young people and their families, and suggest that higher education might not be a major contributor to common mental disorders among young people.
They caution that their findings, which were commissioned and funded by England’s Department for Education, might not be generalisable to other countries – even to those within the UK.
However, first author Tayla McCloud said the researchers were unable to say why students might be more at risk of depression and anxiety than their peers, but it could be related to academic or financial pressure.
“This increased risk among students has not been found in studies in the past, so if the association has only recently emerged it might be related to increased financial pressures and worries about achieving high results in the wider economic and social context,” said Dr McCloud.
“We would have expected higher education students to have better mental health than their non-student peers as they tend to be from more privileged backgrounds on average, so these results are particularly concerning.”
She added that more research was needed to clarify the mental health risks facing students, and that improving understanding of modifiable risk factors for depression and anxiety was a “global health priority”.
