Emerging Adult Mental Health Resource Access, Use, and Sufficiency During COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose While Emerging Adults (EAs) report the highest rates of psychopathology, age-related barriers to access and use of mental health resources (MHR) leave many EAs to struggle. Contextualized within the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study explores factors related to EAs’ perceptions of access, use, and sufficiency of MHR. Method Four hundred twenty-three EAs enrolled in post-secondary education at the onset of the pandemic were recruited for an online survey. An age-related COVID questionnaire and multiple empirically validated measures were used to assess mental health status and MHR use throughout the pandemic. Results Those who reported Reduced or Eliminated Access to MHR during the pandemic were likely to have experienced at least one Change in Residence. Reduced or Eliminated Access to MHR and higher levels of depression accounted for the greatest variance in MHR Sufficiency. Conclusion This study underscores the importance of efforts to expand access to MHR amongst EAs.