STRESSORS & MENTAL HEALTH AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS ON HBCU & PBI CAMPUSES

Abstract

Introduction: As of 2019, the Annual Report of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health [2] reported that anxiety continues as the most common problem among students who completed the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms, with 67.7% of 82,685 respondents participating in the report. Clinicians also reported that anxiety continues to be the most common diagnosis among students seeking services at on-campus counseling centers. Mental illness can affect students’ motivation, concentration, social interactions, and college success [1]. The effects of the lockdown and stay-at-home orders have brought a negative impact on higher education. It has brought into focus the mental health of various affected populations and the many disparities facing them, as well as the need for more programming aimed to serve students at historically black universities. A recent review of virus outbreaks and pandemics documented stressors such as infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma [5]. Much of the current literature on the psychological impacts of COVID-19 has emerged from the earliest hot spots in China [6,10,11]. Although several studies have assessed mental health issues during epidemics, most have focused on health workers, patients, children, and the general population [6,7]. Review results support a baseline need for future HBCU studies to support anticipated funding by way of applied grants, to better serve the disparities faced by the students on an HBUC & a PBI campus, as a result of Mental Illness.