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Population-Based Initiatives in College Mental Health: Students Helping Students to Overcome Obstacles

Current Psychiatry Reports volume 16, Article number: 525 (2014) Cite this article

Abstract

College students’ need for mental health care has increased dramatically, leaving campus counseling and mental health centers struggling to meet the demand. This has led to the investigation and development of extra-center, population-based interventions. Student-to-student support programs are but one example. Students themselves are a plentiful, often-untapped resource that extends the reach of mental health services on campus. Student-to-student programs capitalize on students’ natural inclination to assist their peers. A brief review of the prevalence and effects of mental disorders in the college population is provided, followed by a broad overview of the range of peer-to-peer programs that can be available on college campuses. Two innovative programs are highlighted: (1) a hospital- and community-based program, the College Mental Health Program (CMHP) at McLean Hospital, and 2) the Student Support Network (SSN) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The subsequent section reviews the literature on peer-to-peer programs for students with serious and persistent mental illness for which there is a small but generally positive body of research. This lack of an empirical basis in college mental health leads the authors to argue for development of broad practice-research networks.

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Conflict of Interest

Daniel J. Kirsch, Stephanie L. Pinder-Amaker, Charles Morse, Marsha L. Ellison, and Leonard A. Doerfler declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Michelle B. Riba is a board member of the World Psychiatric Association and has received royalties from APPI, Guilford, and Wiley. Dr. Riba also has received paid travels expenses from WPA and APA.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Daniel J. Kirsch & Marsha L. Ellison

  2. Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Stephanie L. Pinder-Amaker

  3. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA

    Charles Morse

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Leonard A. Doerfler

  5. Department of Psychology, Assumption College, Worcester, MA, USA

    Leonard A. Doerfler

  6. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Michelle B. Riba

Authors
  1. Daniel J. Kirsch
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  2. Stephanie L. Pinder-Amaker
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  3. Charles Morse
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Correspondence to Daniel J. Kirsch.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Mood Disorders

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Kirsch, D.J., Pinder-Amaker, S.L., Morse, C. et al. Population-Based Initiatives in College Mental Health: Students Helping Students to Overcome Obstacles. Curr Psychiatry Rep 16, 525 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0525-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0525-1

Keywords

  • College students
  • College mental health
  • Peer-to-peer
  • Mental health services
  • Population approach