Exploring graduate student mental health and service utilization by gender, race, and year in school

Abstract

Objective

The current study explored differences in mental health problems, services utilization, and support of graduate students by gender, race/ethnicity, and year in school.

Participants

Participants consisted of 734 graduate students from a large, Midwestern university.

Methods

Graduate students answered a series of questionnaires in fall 2021 assessing their mental health, services utilization, and perception of services.

Results

Women (vs men) and participants in their second year and beyond (vs first year) reported greater mental health problems, negative impact of the pandemic, and more services utilization. White (vs non-White) participants reported greater negative impact of the pandemic, greater services utilization, and less financial strain. Finances, lack of knowledge about resources, and inadequate communication from the university about services were reported as treatment barriers.

Conclusion

Graduate students struggle with mental health, and universities may need to improve communication with and tailor their services to graduate students specifically to better support them.

Keywords:

• Graduate student
• mental health
• mental health service utilization
• pandemic

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board at Grand Valley State University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.