Anxiety and suicidality in the college student population

Abstract

Objective: This study examined symptoms of anxiety, depression and suicidality in a national sample of college students. Participants: Using national survey data from the Healthy Minds Study (HMS), a random sample from 184 U.S. campuses from fall 2016 to spring 2019 was analyzed (N = 119,875). Methods: Prevalence rates were examined with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and suicidality questions. Relationships between anxiety, depression and suicidality were assessed through Spearman’s correlations, the Kruskal-Wallis H test and logistic regressions. Results: Findings revealed that screening only for depression would pick up 23% of suicidal ideation, increasing to 35% when also screening for anxiety. Those with anxiety and no to minimal depression had the second highest likelihood of suicide attempt, following those with anxiety and depression. The symptom “feeling afraid something awful might happen” doubled the odds of suicidal ideation. Conclusions: College campuses may benefit from assessing particular anxiety symptoms in relation to suicide.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• college students
• depression
• risk
• suicide

Acknowledgements

All individuals who contributed significantly to this work are acknowledged as authors on this manuscript.

Conflict of interest disclosure

There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Boston University.

Additional information

Funding

Sarah Ketchen Lipson is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health grant K01MH121515 and the William T. Grant Foundation scholars program.