Suicide and depression among college students: A decade later.

Abstract

Are suicidal thoughts and depression increasing or decreasing among college students? What life circumstances are the most critical to explore with depressed or suicidal college students? This article focuses on the rate of self-assessed depression and suicide among college students and examines contributing factors and help-seeking behavior. Results of our study indicated that 53% of the sample stated that they experienced depression since beginning college, with 9% reporting that they had considered committing suicide since beginning college. Suggestions for college mental health practitioners related to programming, prevention, and psychoeducation are described.Psychologists practicing on college campuses today are often perplexed as to the best way to deal with suicidal college students. This is because suicide among college and university students is a problem of complex dimensions that impacts many people: clients, survivors, and psychologists alike. Over the years, various researchers have examined college student suicide from several perspectives. For example, researchers have examined the causes of suicide among college students and have identified a variety of causes, including social problems (e.g., Bernard & Bernard, 1982), hopelessness (Schwartz & Whitaker, 1990;Westefeld, Whitchard, & Range, 1990), inadequate reasons for living (Westefeld, Cardin, & Deaton, 1992), academic problems (Bernard & Bernard, 1982; SUSAN R. FURR received her PhD in counseling psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Special Education, and Child Development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests include college student development and counselor education. JOHN S. WESTEFELD received his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently is an associate professor in counseling psychology at the University of Iowa. He also is a diplomate in counseling psychology. His research interests include college student suicide, severe weather phobia, and men's health. GAVE N. MCCONNELL received her MA in counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is director of student life at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and a doctoral student at North Carolina State University. Her research interests include the matriculation of community college students to the university setting. J. MARSHALL JENKINS received his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is director of the counseling center at Berry College. His research interests include the interaction between psychotherapy and spirituality.

Point-Prevalence of Depression and Associated Risk Factors

“…Within the depressed group 17.4% (n = 17) reported suicidal intent and 58.7% (n = 54) reported suicidal ideation, both of which were significantly related to depression severity for the sample in total and further were significant as risk factors associated with depression in the depressed group. The results support the literature as to the importance of such factors for depression, particularly for university students (Furr, Westefeld, McConnell, & Jenkins, 2001). Downloaded by [Derek Richards] at 01:24 10 January 2014…”

Depression, Aggression And Spiritual Well-Being Among The University Students In Jordan

“…The results showed that 55.7% of the students had mild to severe depression. The results corresponds with previous international studies, Furr, Westefeld, McConnell, and Jenkins (2001) reported that 53% of the university students had depressive symptoms, and 40% of college students identified depression as their major concern (Woolfson,1997). Nationally, Almost 75% of the university students exhibited some degree of depressive symptoms (Hamdan-Mansour, Halabi, Dawani, 2008).…”

Perceptions and Incidence of Test Anxiety

“…Given the potential negative consequences associated with poor test performance or failure, it is not surprising that students consistently cite exam and grade-related worries as their greatest sources of anxiety (Furr, Westefeld, McConnell, & Jenkins, 2001). The experience of high levels of exam-related anxiety is referred to in the literature as test anxiety (TA) and is characterized by cognitive, behavioural, and physiological responses induced by academic testing (Zeidner, 1998).…”