College Students are Prioritizing Mental Wellness; Stress and Anxiety Levels Declining, New Nationwide Survey Reveals
November 03 2021 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Students are ready to socialize; listening/playing music top
ways students destress
American Campus Communities (ACC: NYSE) and the Hi, How Are
You Project, a non-profit organization focused on
destigmatizing the conversation around mental health, released
findings from its College Student Fall 2021 Mental Wellness
Survey which was fielded in September.
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College Student Fall 2021 Mental Wellness
Survey (Photo: Business Wire)
The survey is one of the largest of its kind specifically
targeting all levels of college students from incoming freshman to
graduate students across the U.S. It resulted in nearly 9,000
responses confirming that stress and anxiety levels are down and
that students believe that mental health is an important component
of their overall health, which holds steady when compared to last
year’s survey.
“While stigma around mental health is still very real, the
report reveals that it is starting to decrease, and with increased
awareness and support, we have seen that more students are
comfortable with sharing and openly communicating about their
troubles,” said Dr. Sonia Krishna, a board certified physician
specializing in Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatry and Hi,
How Are You Project board member. “This is certainly great news
since college years are a high risk and critical time when help and
resources should be readily available to make an impact.”
Key takeaways from the report include:
- Stress and anxiety are pervasive, but levels are down from last
year
- Mental wellness continues to be an essential component of
students' overall health and wellbeing
- Students continue to have high care quotient for others and
open up to peers
- COVID-19 has prompted students to evaluate their mental
wellness
- Students most look forward to socializing and interacting in
person
- Social media permeates students’ lives with more
positive/neutral impact than negative
“Given the fact that 75% of mental health issues arise before
the age of 24, we are committed to raising awareness and being a
resource for our college residents,” said Bill Bayless, chief
executive officer at American Campus Communities. “This annual
survey is a key component of our partnership with the Hi, How Are
You Project to reach out to residents for feedback to better inform
our approaches to peer-to-peer mental wellness training and how to
further build community. It takes each and every one of us to open
up the dialogue and help destigmatize mental health across our
communities and beyond."
The big learning from the 2021 survey is that stress and anxiety
levels are down as students report a 25% decrease in how their
anxiety levels compare to previous years. This year 62% of
respondents say their levels are somewhat more or considerably more
stressful compared to previous years, with last year’s result for
the same question totaling 85%. Twenty-two percent say their
anxiety and stress is considerably less (5%) or somewhat less (17%)
than in previous years, and 16% say they are seeing no change in
their stress levels this year.
Of those survey respondents who are more stressed or anxious
than previous years, their top reason why was due to re-engaging in
academics or resuming a full course load (76%), whereas only 66% of
the reasons why were COVID-19 related. However, COVID-19 has been a
mental wellness eye opener as 67% agree or strongly agree that
COVID-19 has forced them to take a closer look at their mental
health as a key component of their overall health. This is on par
with the same question posed last year when 66% of respondents of
the 2020 survey agreed.
Ninety-three percent of the college students surveyed agree that
mental health is an important component of their overall health and
wellbeing, which was the same as last year’s survey. To help them
support mental wellbeing, students chose the following top
activities: getting a full night-sleep (82%), staying connected
with friends and family (81%) and eating healthy (80%). Exercising
regularly and focusing on the positive to change perspective
followed by practicing mindfulness were also popular choices.
When asked what students do specifically to relieve stress and
anxiety, listening or playing music (82%) was chosen as the top
activity, which ranked number one in last year’s survey as well.
Talking with family and friends (80%) was the second most popular
choice, and the third was watching TV or a favorite movie (73%).
Getting outdoors and exercising were also popular among more than
half of those surveyed.
Socializing with friends and others (80%) ranked highest by far
when students were asked what they were looking forward to the most
when they returned to campus this fall. Sixty-four percent said
they are looking forward to attending events on and off-campus and
48% chose attending university sporting events. The data clearly
reveals that learning with others is what students want as in-class
instruction (60%), hands-on learning (43%), and in-class discussion
(36%) were popular choices among the survey respondents. The survey
also reveals how students communicate with friends, classmates and
family with texting ranking as the number one choice.
ACC has an ongoing partnership with the Hi, How Are You Project
which serves as a guiding tenet for ACC’s Residence Life program
and offers events and information on health, wellness and student
success for residents. ACC aims to foster a culture of open
dialogue about the importance of mental health at its residential
communities at campuses across the nation, especially now that
students continue to cope with the impacts of COVID-19. The two
organizations are sharing the results with university leadership
and administrators across the country with the goal to make an even
greater impact on helping break down the stigma associated with
mental health issues among college students. To read the complete
College Student Fall 2021 Mental Wellness Report, please find it
here.
About American Campus Communities
American Campus Communities, Inc. is the largest owner, manager
and developer of high-quality student housing communities in the
United States. The company is a fully integrated, self-managed and
self-administered equity real estate investment trust (REIT) with
expertise in the design, finance, development, construction
management and operational management of student housing
properties. As of September 30, 2021, ACC owned 166 student housing
properties containing approximately 111,900 beds. Including its
owned and third-party managed properties, ACC's total managed
portfolio consisted of 202 properties with approximately 140,700
beds. Visit www.americancampus.com.
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