Study: Minority students at universities more likely to suffer depression, race plays role
A new study shows that race may play a role in depression among college students who are minorities at both predominantly white institutions and historically Black universities.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Georgia and the findings were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of American College Health.
The researchers had 3,102 students complete surveys in 2021 about depression and anxiety. Those who took the surveys attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU) or a predominantly white institution (PWI).
At HBCUs, white students are the minority but at PWIs, minorities include students who belong to Asian, Black, Hispanic or other communities, cautioned Janani Rajbhandari-Thapa, lead author on the study and an associate professor in UGA’s College of Public Health.
The team also found that moderately severe and severe depression was more prevalent among the minority race at both universities.
The research team went into the study expecting to find that minorities would have higher odds of experiencing anxiety and depression, she said.
“We had more confirming results that on college college campuses, not being the general or the majority is associated with some form of mental health condition,” she said.
The team also looked at anxiety and found that regardless of whether students are minorities at their institutions, they may experience anxiety, she said.
No need to avoid snoozing: Study shows hitting snooze for short period could have benefits
What limited the study's research and findings?
Rajbhandari-Thapa, lead author of the study, mentioned a few limitations about the research the team did, noting that the majority of the study’s participants were women.
“What we cannot say is that depression and anxiety is more common among females because female students are coming forward and sharing it,” she said. “Male students could have depression or anxiety but they might not be sharing it because our sample is not even across gender.”
She also stressed that the team’s sample size wasn’t a 50/50 split between students at a PWI and students at an HBCU.
“There are a higher number of students from the predominantly white university because that's a larger university,” she told Paste BN Wednesday morning.
An additional limitation of the study is that the surveys weren’t done among a random sample. Because of that, individuals who are already suffering from a mental health condition could be more likely to participate, she said.
It was also done in 2021, just a year after the COVID-19 pandemic made its way to the U.S. The team thinks social support may have motivated some people to participate.
“If we redid the survey now, I would expect we would see lower rates of depression and anxiety,” she said Wednesday morning. “We are not in lockdown anymore. We are taking in-person classes. We are socializing.”
'Nomance': Shows with sex scenes growing more unpopular with Gen Z, according to new study
How did the team conduct their research?
Students were asked to rank how often they experienced anxiety over a two-week period, selecting responses such as not at all, several days, more than half the days and nearly every day.
On a scale of 0 to 21, scores were then grouped into categories such as none, mild anxiety and moderate to severe anxiety.
To find correlations between race, depression and anxiety, the team used chi-square and logistic regression tests.
Chi-square tests allowed the researchers to see if there was an association between being a minority or first-generation student and having a mental health condition, Rajbhandari-Thapa said.
Logistic regression allowed them to predict the probabilities of one group compared to another while controlling for other factors, Rajbhandari-Thapa said.
“For example, in our model, we are looking at whether identifying as a minority or a first-generation student has higher odds of having any mental health condition,” she said.
Mental health support at universities
Rajbhandari-Thapa said many universities have already taken steps to provide mental health support for students and one of the study’s coauthors, Arial Treankler, works with the university to provide that.
Their study highlights how important these efforts are and the importance of making sure these efforts are available for students who are minorities at their universities, first-generation students and other students from diverse communities, Rajbhandari-Thapa said.
“We need to do targeted activities for them to feel at home,” she said. “It's not something coming out of nowhere. The students are actually reporting having some form of mental health condition.”