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Mental health and academic attitudes and expectations in university populations: results from the healthy minds study

Abstract Background: Mental health problems are highly prevalent in university populations and have been shown to impair academic performance. Yet little is known about the ways in which mental health influences academic outcomes in higher education. Aims: This study seeks to offer new insight into the relationship between mental health and academic performance, focusing on students’ academic experience and expectations as interrelated mechanisms. Method: Data come from 3556 students at four campuses that participated in the Healthy Minds Study. We explore unadjusted and multivariable relationships between mental health and academic experiences, expectations and impairment. Results: We find significant differences by mental health status, including that one-in-four students with symptoms are dissatisfied with their academic experience, relative to one-in-ten without (p < 0.001). Approximately 30% with symptoms doubt whether higher education is worth their time, money and effort, compared to 15% without (p < 0.001). In multivariable models, mental health problems were a significant predictor of academic dissatisfaction and drop out intentions, while positive mental health was a significant predictor of satisfaction and persistence. Conclusions: This descriptive study offers further evidence of the importance of mental health for university success, identifying pathways related to students’ experiences and expectations that may help to explain this relationship.