title: Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys.
abstract: Although mental disorders are significant predictors of educational attainment throughout the entire educational career, most research on mental disorders among students has focused on the primary and secondary school years.
  
  
  
  The World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys were used to examine the associations of mental disorders with college entry and attrition by comparing college students (n = 1572) and non-students in the same age range (18-22 years; n = 4178), including non-students who recently left college without graduating (n = 702) based on surveys in 21 countries (four low/lower-middle income, five upper-middle-income, one lower-middle or upper-middle at the times of two different surveys, and 11 high income). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence and age-of-onset of DSM-IV anxiety, mood, behavioral and substance disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).
  
  
  
  One-fifth (20.3%) of college students had 12-month DSM-IV/CIDI disorders; 83.1% of these cases had pre-matriculation onsets. Disorders with pre-matriculation onsets were more important than those with post-matriculation onsets in predicting subsequent college attrition, with substance disorders and, among women, major depression the most important such disorders. Only 16.4% of students with 12-month disorders received any 12-month healthcare treatment for their mental disorders.
  
  
  
  Mental disorders are common among college students, have onsets that mostly occur prior to college entry, in the case of pre-matriculation disorders are associated with college attrition, and are typically untreated. Detection and effective treatment of these disorders early in the college career might reduce attrition and improve educational and psychosocial functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Harvard Medical School,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Auerbach
authors.affiliation: Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM),Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology,Population Studies Center, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan,Ann Arbor, MI,USA.
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Axinn
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical, Neuro, and Developmental Psychology,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,Amsterdam,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cuijpers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy,Friedrich-Alexander University Nuremberg-Erlangen,Erlangen,Germany.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.affiliation: School of Education, Boston University,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy,Harvard Medical School,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy,Harvard Medical School,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology,Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Research Group Psychiatry,Department of Neurosciences,KU Leuven University,Leuven,Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mortier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,Harvard University,Cambridge, MA,USA.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nock
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Harvard Medical School,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pinder-Amaker
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy,Harvard Medical School,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.affiliation: University of California Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities,School of Medicine,Sacramento, CA,USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Gaxiola
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Al-Qadisiya University,Diwania Governorate,Iraq.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Hamzawi
authors.affiliation: Section of Psychiatric Epidemiology - LIM 23,Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School,São Paulo,Brazil.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiologic and Psychosocial Research,National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz,Mexico City,Mexico.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benjet
authors.affiliation: Chronic Diseases Research Center (CEDOC) and Department of Mental Health,Faculdade de Ciências Médicas,Universidade Nova de Lisboa,Lisbon,Portugal.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Caldas-de-Almeida
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,Leuven,Belgium.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demyttenaere
authors.affiliation: National School of Public Health, Management and Professional Development,Bucharest,Romania.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Florescu
authors.affiliation: IRCCS St John of God Clinical Research Centre,Brescia,Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Girolamo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,University College Hospital,Ibadan,Nigeria.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gureje
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Universitat de Barcelona,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology,Faculty of Medicine,Balamand University,Beirut,Lebanon.
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Karam
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Wroclaw Medical University,Wroclaw,Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiejna
authors.affiliation: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (EHESP), EA 4057 Paris Descartes University,Paris,France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kovess-Masfety
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Chinese University of Hong Kong,Tai Po,Hong Kong.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The Park Centre for Mental Health,Wacol,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McGrath
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Ulster,Londonderry,UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan,Ann Arbor, MI,USA.
authors.forename: B-E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Pennell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine,University of Otago,Dunedin,Otago,New Zealand.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Trimbos-Instituut, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction,Utrecht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ten Have
authors.affiliation: Center for Excellence on Research in Mental Health, CES University,Medellín,Colombia.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy,Harvard Medical School,Boston, MA,USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.affiliation: Department Mental Health,National Center of Public Health and Analyses,Sofia,Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zarkov
authors.affiliation: Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum - Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (UPC-KUL),Campus Gasthuisberg,Leuven,Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruffaerts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: College attrition; college dropout; education; epidemiology; mental illness