Psychiatric comorbidities among undergraduate and graduate students attending spiritual-mind-body interventions

Abstract

Objective

This study examined rates of positive screens for depression and posttraumatic stress and their comorbidity among undergraduate (N = 77) and graduate (N = 136) students who participated in on-campus Spiritual-Mind-Body (SMB) wellness interventions.

Methods

Participants completed the PHQ-9 and the PCL-C before starting an 8-week in-person SMB wellness intervention. Elevated depression was indicated by a score of ≥10 on the PHQ-9; elevated posttraumatic stress (PTS) was indicated by a score of ≥30 on the PCL-C.

Results

There were unexpectedly high rates of posttraumatic stress among both undergraduate (39%) and graduate (32%) students without the presence of comorbid depression. A small minority of students experienced depression apart from elevated PTS symptoms. Overall, students reported high levels of clinically relevant psychopathology.

Conclusion

On-campus wellness centers may offer an appropriate setting for the screening of trauma-related distress and depression and their comorbidity to address the psychiatric concerns of SMB wellness-seeking students.

Keywords:

• College student mental health
• depression
• post-traumatic stress
• spirituality
• spiritual-mind-body wellness

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Living Peace Foundation for the generous support of this study.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Teachers College.

Additional information

Funding

The Living Peace Foundation funded this study.