TOPLINE:
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rates among college students more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, new data showed. Rates of acute stress disorder (ASD) also increased during that time.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers conducted five waves of cross-sectional study from 2017 to 2022, involving 392,377 participants across 332 colleges and universities.
- The study utilized the Healthy Minds Study data, ensuring representativeness by applying sample weights based on institutional demographics.
- Outcome variables were diagnoses of PTSD and ASD, confirmed by healthcare practitioners, with statistical analysis assessing change in odds of estimated prevalence during 2017-2022.
TAKEAWAY:
- The prevalence of PTSD among US college students increased from 3.4% in 2017-2018 to 7.5% in 2021-2022.
- ASD diagnoses also rose from 0.2% in 2017-2018 to 0.7% in 2021-2022, with both increases remaining statistically significant after adjusting for demographic differences.
- Investigators noted that these findings underscore the need for targeted, trauma-informed intervention strategies in college settings.
IN PRACTICE:
“These trends highlight the escalating mental health challenges among college students, which is consistent with recent research reporting a surge in psychiatric diagnoses,” the authors wrote. “Factors contributing to this rise may include pandemic-related stressors (eg, loss of loved ones) and the effect of traumatic events (eg, campus shootings and racial trauma),” they added.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Yusen Zhai, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham. It was published online on May 30, 2024, in JAMA Network Open.
LIMITATIONS:
The study’s reliance on self-reported data and single questions for diagnosed PTSD and ASD may have limited the accuracy of the findings. The retrospective design and the absence of longitudinal follow-up may have restricted the ability to infer causality from the observed trends.
DISCLOSURES:
No disclosures were reported. No funding information was available.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.