Mental Health Service Utilization Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning or Queer College Students

Lifetime and 12‐month treatment for mental disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among first year college students

“…Further, two out of three sexual minority groups have systematically higher odds of being treated, independent of whether they have mental disorders or STB. This finding has been mostly explained by increased levels of psychological distress among sexual minorities (Dunbar, Sontag‐Padilla, Ramchand, Seelam, & Stein, ). It may also be that barriers and reasons in favor of seeking treatment function differently in sexual minorities.…”

California Community College Faculty and Staff Help Address Student Mental Health Issues

“…The survey was designed to assess change over time in (1) campus experiences and attitudes related to student mental health, (2) perceptions of how campuses are serving students' mental health needs, and (3) perceptions of the overall campus climate toward student mental health and well-being (for prior reports, see Sontag-Padilla et al, 2014;Sontag-Padilla et al, 2016;Dunbar et al, 2017). The goal of this report is to determine the preliminary impact of CalMHSA's PEI activities on improvements in the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of faculty and staff over time regarding supporting students' mental health needs on their campuses.…”

Out on Campus: Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Sexual and Gender Minority College Students

“…In this issue, Dunbar et al [11] document significant disparities in psychological distress, mental health-related academic impairment, and mental health service utilization between heterosexual and lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning and queer (LGBQQ) students in California public colleges and universities (transgender students were excluded from the analysis). Study findings, derived from a large and diverse sample, are cause for celebration and concern.…”

“…Promising approaches include telepsychology, smartphone and social media interventions [14,20], campus-wide opt-out mental health checkups [14], and partnerships with off-campus organizations that serve diverse LGBTQ communities. Ideally, these services will be delivered on LGBTQ-affirming campuses, as Dunbar et al [11] find that campus climate matters.…”

“…Mental health problems in adolescence often persist into adulthood [21], making early intervention a critical part of eliminating LGBTQ health inequities [22]. Findings from Dunbar et al [11] and other researchers [12e18] highlight potential avenues for rethinking and increasing access to on-campus mental health services. Practice-research networks between counseling centers and LGBTQ health researchers that operate similar to the Collegiate Center for Mental Health [23] also are needed.…”