The emotional health of college freshmen has dropped to a record low, according to an annual survey from the University of California Los Angeles released in January.

The survey, ‘The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010,’ asked more than 200,000 first-time, full-time freshmen to self-rate their emotional health. The students were enrolled in 279 different universities across the nation.

The number of students who reported having an ‘above average’ level of emotional health declined from 55.3 percent to 51.9 percent between 2009 and last year, according to the most recent data in the study’s research brief. When the survey started in 1985, 64 percent of incoming students reported an ‘above average’ emotional health level, according to the research brief.

‘Universities need to pay attention to how students are in college and create conditions for students that are anxious and stressful. That’s going to be important for students to learn during school,’ said Linda DeAngelo, one of the five authors of the study and assistant director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at UCLA, where the study began 25 years ago.

UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute issues the survey and works with universities so they can learn more about their students, DeAngelo said. Responses from the survey are used for campus improvements at the participating schools, such as more support and counseling services for students, she said. The survey is also a good representation of the feelings of students around the country, DeAngelo said.

‘You’re away from home and don’t have the guidance from your parents or teachers like you did in high school,’ said Deanna O’Keefe, an undeclared freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The study’s past two versions have revealed that the country’s economic state could be responsible for causing additional stress on incoming college students. Out of the first-time students for fall 2010, 53.1 percent are using loans to attend college, according to the study’s research brief. Two-thirds of students reported on the survey that the ‘current economic situation significantly affected my college choice.’

‘When it came down to my final two schools, I chose Syracuse University because of the money they offered me,’ said Mina Johnson, an undeclared freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Though the emotional level of students is declining, their drive to achieve is increasing, which many contribute to the overall problem, according to the study’s research brief.

‘Students put a lot of pressure on themselves to make the most of their experience,’ said DeAngelo, one of the study’s authors. ‘This can cause students to feel more stressed and anxious.’

The survey revealed an increase in students who believe they will participate in different extracurricular activities in college. One-third of the students believe there is a ‘very good chance’ they’ll participate in community service, a record high since 1990, when the question was first introduced on the survey.

About 47 percent believe there is also a ‘very good chance’ they will participate in clubs or groups, an increase from 44.1 percent in 2000, according to the research brief. And 31.5 percent believe they will study abroad, according to the research brief.

Men have always reported a higher level of emotional health than women, although both the levels of men and women dropped similar amounts from 2009, according to the research brief. Nearly 46 percent of women in the survey reported having a high level of emotional health compared to 59 percent of men, a difference of about 13 percent, according to the research brief.

‘It could be that women are more likely to report lower levels,’ DeAngelo said. ‘Not that they are actually more stressed.’

kacrisci@syr.edu

 

Published on February 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm