Four in ten college students describe their mental health as poor

January 23, 2023 - Four in ten college students describe their mental health as poor, according to a poll released by the College Student Mental Wellness Advocacy Coalition. These findings represent a survey of 18,168 currently enrolled college students conducted by the College Student Mental Wellness Advocacy Coalition, a partnership between American Campus Communities’ (ACC) Residence Life program, the Texas-based nonprofit Hi, How Are You Project, and Ipsos.

1. Many students are in need of mental health support – Over two in five (43%) of students say they disagree that they don’t need mental health right now.  

• Though most students (71%) say they could find professional help if they needed it, only around half (53%) say they would be able to find professionals that understand their personal background. 
• Two-thirds of students (64%) said they have searched for information on how to improve their mental health. But thriving students (73%) are more likely to know where to find information on mental health online compared to struggling students (52%).

2. How do students support their mental health? Listening to music and socializing are the most popular options. 

• Listening to music is the most popular way students support their mental health, with 81% saying they listened to music to support their mental health all the time or often in the past month. More than half of students socialized or talked to friends or family (64%) or watched TV or movies (59%). 
• Spending time outside (41%), getting good sleep (39%), exercising (36%), and eating healthy (35%) are other popular ways students support their mental health. 
• Thriving students are much more likely to socialize to support their mental health (78%) than maintaining (53%) or struggling (29%) students. 

3. Discomfort speaking about mental health is tied to poor mental health. 

• Thriving students are the most likely to feel comfortable discussing mental health with people they are closest to (78%) compared to maintaining (58%) and struggling (37%) students. 
• Students that said they have poor mental health are more likely to say they fear being judged if they talked about mental health (59%) compared to students with good mental health (35%). 

4. Women and students that identify as non-binary or preferred to self-describe are more likely to report negative emotions then men. 

• Compared to men, women and those who identify as non-binary or prefer to self-describe are more likely to be stressed out, anxious/worried and overwhelmed. 
• Males (47%) are more likely than females (38%) and students that identify as non-binary or preferred to self-describe (25%) to say their mental health has been very or somewhat good in the past month. 

5. Strong relationships between students and their community may help overall wellbeing.

• Thriving students are more likely to feel strongly connected to their residential community than maintaining or struggling students. 
• Students that feel connected to their community are also the most likely to say they laugh and smile a lot (76%) and feel comfortable talking about their mental health (77%). 

About the Study

These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted October 10-31, 2022. For this survey, a sample of 18,169 currently enrolled college students age 18+ from the continental U.S. and Canada were interviewed online in English, Spanish and French.

The sample for this study was provided by the College Student Mental Wellness Advocacy Coalition members who conducted email outreach to residents. 

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mike Ilecki
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

Haley Gullquist
Research Manager, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com