Twenty-five years ago close to 70 percent of full-time freshmen reported that they believed they were in the top 10 percent of mentally stable students in their class. Fast forward to today and only 52 percent place themselves that high.
The survey “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010 conducted by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) reported said findings. It has been conducted annually for the past 25 years and includes data from more than 200,000 students in almost 300 colleges across the nation.
Another survey found a lack of empathy among college students. Conducted by the University of Michigan, the survey involves data from 72 different studies administered between 1979 and 2009. According to reports, college students of today are 40 percent less empathetic than their 1979 counterparts.
While Pepperdine did participate in UCLA’s study, the university-specific data has not been reviewed.
Dr. Teresa Taningco Kaldo, director of Educational Research at the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) explained the raw data.
In the data, Pepperdine students are compared to two other groups. The first group is based on Pepperdine’s type, control and selectivity as an institution. Pepperdine is a private institution that is highly selective when it chooses incoming students. The second group, based only on type and control, is made up of students from private institutions.
Kaldo said it was hard to comment on the data since the numbers themselves can be misleading. She said 60 percent of Pepperdine students report having good emotional health. The first comparison group reported 55 percent and the second reported 57 percent. Although there is a difference, the difference is not significant. The two elements of the survey that Kaldo was able to comment on were feelings of depression and feeling of being overwhelmed.
In terms of students feeling depressed, 52 percent of Pepperdine’s freshmen reported feelings of depression. This is higher than the other two comparison groups’ 45 percent.
Something else that was interesting about that percentage is that within 52 percent, more men than woman reported feeling depression.
Regarding students being overwhelmed, 93 percent of Pepperdine freshmen reported feeling that way. The first comparison group reported 88 percent and the second group reported 87 percent.
The full brief of the data concerning Pepperdine students will be out in March. Students will be able to access the data at Pepperdine’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness website.
Dr. Connie Horton, director of the Counseling Center, agreed that since her arrival at Pepperdine in 2005, the numbers have gone up.”
The Counseling Center is now seeing “double the students we saw in 2005 she said
The numbers keep rising, but it is not a real surprise since the last couple of years have followed this trajectory.
It is important to note, however, that part of the initial jump in cases at Pepperdine is a result of the Counseling Center’s new policy of offering free counseling to all students.
Keeping that in mind, Horton explained, Our students are not exempt from the national trend.”
She mentioned a number of other factors that contribute to students feeling overwhelmed including financial stress an increased workload and an increase in the overall feeling of competitiveness.
Besides those direct causes national forces are also known to cause stress. With increased access to media students are constantly bombarded with information and not all of it is positive.
As for the gap between men and women that the survey suggests Horton mentions that she has not necessarily seen it here at Pepperdine. However she notes “Men have shown to not seek help.”
Dr. Robert Scholz assistant director of the Counseling Center illuminated the situation.
“Men have a much harder time when they have a mental health concern. They often times are more likely to identify it as a physical issue. So they will feel stress and end up at the health center. It often comes up in different ways Scholz said.
Counseling is about helping people develop skills to be healthier to be stronger Scholz continued.
When asked about the resources available on campus, Horton was more than happy to share quite a few.
Am option for students is the Counseling Center of which Horton said, it’s free it’s confidential and it’s professional with no connection to student records or answering to professors or parents.
Take advantage of what you’re paying for. You’ve all chosen to go to a school with a low faculty-to-student ratio Horton said. Horton encourages students to take steps in ensuring that you feel supported by the people instead of just stressed.”
“Part of healthy psychological maturity and emotional maturity is taking advantage of resources that are available to you. It is free so that people won’t wait until it gets that bad Horton said.
As the director of the Counseling Center, she expressed she feels very lucky because she has such a great staff.
If people have a serious problem the counseling office is equipped to deal with it.”
Lastly Horton recommended that students “be thoughtful and mindful about how you’re living your life.” She emphasized that “you don’t have to check every single Facebook update that comes across you.”
Horton asserted that coping with stress stems from very basic self-care. “Sleep well eat well and exercise she said.