Clinical profiles of college student patients in a psychiatric hospital.

Yoon S, Nevins CM, Liu CH, Chen JA, Pinder-Amaker SL. Clinical profiles of college student patients in a psychiatric hospital. Journal of psychiatric research. 2021 Aug 1; 140:289-294.

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Abstract:

College students represent a significant portion of patients in a psychiatric hospital. However, limited previous research has examined the clinical profiles of this unique population, especially across both inpatient and outpatient settings. To better understand college student mental health, the current study explored the potentially heterogeneous groups of students admitted to inpatient or treated in outpatient units in a large psychiatric hospital. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify latent clusters based on mental health-related struggles, measured by the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-34, a measure specifically designed to assess college students. LPA results identified five underlying clusters: 1) negative affect (NA); 2) NA/alcohol struggles; 3) NA/eating concerns; 4) general distress; and 5) low clinical scores. Students who reported comorbid alcohol-related struggles or eating concerns with negative affect showed the greatest overall distress. The NA/alcohol struggles group was more likely to be inpatient than outpatient. Notably, the NA/eating concerns group, one of the most distressed groups, did not significantly predict higher levels of care, indicating that outpatient students may struggle as greatly as inpatient students. The current study provides new insights into the clinical profiles of the important, yet traditionally understudied, population of college students in both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric hospital settings. Future research on college student patients is imperative to better understand college student mental health from both hospital and university perspectives.