Abstract

College is period in which many students establish life-long health behaviors such as stress management, exercise, and healthy relationships. However, students with mental health conditions may face barriers to engaging in healthy behaviors as a result of their symptoms and be at risk for establishing unhealthy patterns of behavior. Participants included 388,592 US college students who completed the National College Health Assessment between 2016 and 2018. Approximately 28 percent of the sample reported at least one mental health condition, with the most prevalent being anxiety disorder (20.9%), depression (16.2%), sleep disorder (6.6%), and ADHD (5.9%). Students who reported at least one mental health condition were twice as likely to report physical, verbal, or sexual victimization and were less likely to meet recommended levels of moderate or vigorous physical activity. However, students with eating disorders were more likely to meet recommended levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity. Self-reported mental health conditions increased the likelihood that students were interested in receiving health education from their colleges about depression/anxiety, eating disorders, suicide prevention, nutrition, sexual assault/relationship violence prevention, tobacco use, and violence prevention. Findings highlight the need for targeted interventions in establishing healthy behaviors for students with mental health conditions.