Rachel Daltry

Context: Mental health screenings are recommended during preparticipation physical examinations. The Mental Health–Related Survey (MHRS), a 9-item questionnaire adapted from the 18-item Mental Health Screening Form-III, is suggested in 3 consensus and/or position statements. However, there is no evidence on the effectiveness of the MHRS. Objective: To assess the validity of the MHRS for mental health screening in collegiate student-athletes. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: University athletic program. Patients or Other Participants: Five hundred fifteen National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II student-athletes (age = 20 ± 1 years). Main Outcome Measure(s): Participants completed the MHRS, the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale (GAD-7) for anxiety. A stratified sample underwent a neuropsychiatric interview (Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were performed. An area under the curve analysis compared the MHRS with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Validity was determined using sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, predictive values, and accuracy. Results: Three hundred twenty-two student-athletes (62.5%) indicated yes to 1 or more items on the MHRS, suggesting they would require a mental health referral. Women indicated more yes answers than men ( P < .001). Average scores were 2.21 ± 3.06 on the PHQ-9 and 2.66 ± 3.87 on the GAD-7. Using a cut score of 6, 68 individuals (13.2%) reported clinically relevant depression, and 76 (14.8%) reported anxiety. The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores strongly correlated with MHRS scores (PHQ-9: r = 0.713, P < .001; GAD-7: r = 0.745, P < .001). The MHRS had a specificity of 24.6%, a sensitivity of 93.9%, and overall accuracy of 40.14%. The area under the curve score was 0.762. We identified a new cutoff score for the MHRS of ≥4; however, the sensitivity of 63.6% and specificity of 76.3% raise concerns regarding how well this tool can rule out and in clinically significant symptoms of mental health conditions. Conclusions: Most student-athletes indicated yes to at least 1 item on the MHRS, warranting a mental health referral. The MHRS showed high sensitivity but low specificity, indicating low clinical utility as a screening tool.

Context: The National Athletic Trainers’ Association recommends including mental health screening measures as part of the preparticipation examination for all student-athletes (SAs). Despite this recommendation, most mental health screening tools have not been validated in the SA population.Objective: To validate and examine the clinical utility of 2 depression screening tools in the collegiate SA population.Design: Cross-sectional mixed-methods study.Setting: Two Northeastern United States university athletics programs.Patients or Other Participants: A total of 881 (men = 426, 48.4%; women = 455, 51.6%; mean age = 19.7 ± 1.4 years) National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II collegiate SAs completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); 290 SAs participated in a Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview.Main Outcome Measure(s): Depression symptoms were measured using 2 self-report depression screening tools, the PHQ-9 and CES-D, during the fall preparticipation examination. The SAs were selected using a random stratified sampling technique to participate in a Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview as the reference standard comparison for the receiver operating characteristic analysis.Results: A cutoff score of 6 on the PHQ-9 corresponded to 78% sensitivity, 75% specificity, 17.3% positive predictive value, 98.1% negative predictive value (NPV), 3.2 positive likelihood ratio (+LR), and 0.3 negative likelihood ratio (−LR). A cutoff score of 15 on the CES-D corresponded to 83% sensitivity, 78% specificity, 19.7% positive predictive value, 98.6% NPV, 3.7 +LR, and 0.22 −LR.Conclusions: This was the first study to validate depression screening tools in the collegiate SA population. The results suggest cutoff scores on the PHQ-9 and CES-D in SA may need to be lower than those recommended for the general population and provide strong evidence for use as screeners to rule out depression. Referral and confirmatory testing should be implemented to confirm the presence of depression for SAs scoring at or above the cutoff thresholds. Given its brevity, inclusion of a suicidality or self-harm question and evidence of −LR and NPV strength, the PHQ-9 is a practical and effective screener for the SA population.

The current article describes recommendations for identifying and developing referral sources for student-athletes seeking counseling services. A Counseling Center at a northeastern state university collected data from student-athletes presenting for mental health services about who referred them and what sport they played. Findings indicated a disparity between the number of female student-athletes presenting for services and male student-athletes as well as more student-athletes presenting for services during the Fall semester than the Spring semester. It was also found that athletic trainers and coaches were the biggest referral sources to university counseling services. Recommendations for other Counseling Centers are provided in creating and improving upon referral sources for student-athletes.

This article describes the design and implementation of an embedded therapy dog program through the counseling center at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. This program involves having a certified therapy dog present in the counseling center, in the waiting area, during counseling appointments, and during group therapy. It is discussed the function the embedded therapy dog can have in the counseling center along with the benefits of having such a program. Recommendations for other counseling centers are provided in developing this type of program.

The purpose of this study was to analyze trends in the utilization of the Interactive Screening Program (ISP) with a population of students attending a college in the northeast. By making note of specific patterns and observations in the current usage of ISP among this population, it is believed that ISP’s potential usefulness for other college campuses and any existing barriers to seeking mental health treatment among college students might be better understood. It was found that there was no significant difference in submissions based on time of day or week. Thus, roughly the same number of students submitted questionnaires during the normal operational hours of the counseling center and during nights and weekends when the counseling center was closed. It is believed that the ability to receive brief clinical feedback, learn more about counseling services, and dialogue directly with counselors all through an anonymous, online portal represents a more comfortable way for some students to connect to mental health services.

This study examined the correlation between self-compassion and empathy for others in college students in order to better inform clinical work and outreach programming in university counseling centers. Preliminary analyses indicated that gender identity was a confounding variable; therefore, the main analyses were run distinctly for male and female identified participants. There was no important association between self-compassion and empathy for female identified participants. There was an important connection between self-compassion and empathy for others for male identified participants, indicating that higher self-compassion was linked to lower empathy for others. Possible explanations along with recommendations are given. Key words: Empathy for others, self-compassion, college students.

When determining how best to help reduce the distress that exists among today’s college students, it is believed that proactive, on-campus programming is a beneficial supplement to on-campus resources that are often utilized after concerns already exist. Helping students develop resiliency skills is one proactive measure that is believed to improve students’ well-being and ability to cope with adversity. Thus, the Humanity and Resilience Project at West Chester University was recently developed with the goal of helping to promote resiliency among students by encouraging genuine social connections that include a sense of shared vulnerability and humanity. With literature that supports the rationale for this approach, it is hoped that the following description of the development and implementation of this project will inspire other college campuses to consider similar programming for their students.

This brief report was designed as a follow-up to a study that found that compared to nontransfer students that presented to the counseling center, transfer students who presented to the counseling center endorsed higher levels of symptoms of depression and social anxiety, as well as more academic and family problems. The current study investigated mental health differences within the transfer student population based on when (i.e., this semester; last semester; last year; 2 years ago; more than 2 years ago) and from where (i.e., community college vs. 4-year institution) students transferred. There were no significant differences based on when and from where students transferred. However, these findings still may be clinically meaningful and implications are presented.

This article describes the design and implementation of a dog therapy outreach program through the counseling center at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Two main goals were identified for this program: (a) provide stress relief and comfort to students across campus, and (b) increase potential access to counseling services and improve perceptions of the department by providing students with the opportunity to interact with department members outside of the office. Collected student responses appear to support the stated goals. Recommendations for other counseling centers are provided in developing this type of outreach programming.