How Much Have Times Changed? Mental Health Predicting College Success Before, During, and “After” COVID-19

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  In Roundtable Session: Roundtable 3

Abstract

Mental health problems among college students have increased in recent years, and this trend started even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the present study examined how mental health challenges in college predicted short-term and longer-term success outcomes; it also explored whether these relationships varied by entering cohort before, during, and after the pandemic. Within a sample of 13,294 students, early mental health challenges were negatively associated with both short-term and long-term success outcomes across multiple models. Moreover, these relationships were sometimes stronger among students who started college during or after the pandemic than before the pandemic.

Authors

• Sora Moon, University of Iowa

• Nicholas A. Bowman, University of Iowa