Mental health and strain in students

Background Students can be described as a vulnerable group with respect to mental illness due to both internal and external factors, and several studies indicate an increased prevalence of mental impairment among students. Objectives This multicentered project studies the prevalence of stress, burnout (exhaustion), depression, and anxiety disorders in students at four higher education institutions in southern Germany. Materials and methods The following validated tools, Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire in School Settings, Patient Health Questionnaire-4 as well as the Maslach Burnout lnventory -- Student Survey (MBI-SS), were used to ascertain gratification crises and stress-associated risk of illness by means of depressive or anxiety-related disorders. Differences were analyzed. Results With regard to strain and stress-associated risk of illness, there was little difference in the effect sizes between the institutions. There was a significant difference between the students of the institutions with respect to stress-associated risk of burnout (exhaustion) within the category emotional exhaustion. There were no significant differences between the institutions with respect to depression and anxiety disorders. However, in comparison to the general German population, the values are more than double. Conclusions The results in the area of anxiety and/or depressive disorders should encourage universities to systematically analyze their study conditions, adapt them if necessary and promote preventive measures in addition to implementing continuous health reporting.