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Key papers in college mental health

Here is a ‘top hits’ list of papers in college mental health to quickly orient anyone to the literature in this field. This list is not exhaustive so please let us know if you have additional recommendations for this list!

 

ADHD

  • Winkler, A., et al. (2021). "ADHD in College Students-a Guide for Clinicians and Administrators." Current Psychopharmacology 10(1): 34-46.

Community Colleges

  • Lipson, S. K., et al. (2021). "Mental Health Conditions Among Community College Students: A National Study of Prevalence and Use of Treatment Services." Psychiatric services 72(10): 1126-1133.

  • Lipson, S. K., et al. (2021). "Community college student mental health: A national study comparing prevalence and service use at community colleges and four-year institutions." Psychiatric services (Washington, DC) 72(10): 1126.

Digital mental health tools

  • Madrid‐Cagigal, A., et al. (2025). "Digital Mental Health Interventions for University Students With Mental Health Difficulties: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis." Early intervention in psychiatry 19(3): e70017.

Epidemiology

  • Blanco, C., et al. (2008). "Mental Health of College Students and Their Non–College-Attending Peers: Results From the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions." Archives of General Psychiatry 65(12): 1429-1437.

  • Lipson, S. K., et al. (2015). "Variations in Student Mental Health and Treatment Utilization Across US Colleges and Universities." Journal of American College Health 63(6): 388-396.

  • Witmer, A. M., et al. (2024). "The Relationship between Race, Ethnicity, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors among Students at Institutions of Higher Education in the US." Current Psychiatry Reports 26(11): 573-582.

  • Mortier, P., et al. (2018). "The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviours among college students: a meta-analysis." Psychological medicine 48(4): 554-565.

History

  • Barreira, P. and M. Snider (2010). "History of college counseling and mental health services and role of the community mental health model." Mental health care in the college community: 21-31.

Services and Systems of Care

  • Morris, M. R., et al. (2019). "Recovering in place: creating campus models of care for the high-risk college student." Current Psychiatry Reports 21(11): 1-8.

  • Aluri, J., et al. (2025). "Prevalence of On-Campus Student Mental Health Services at US Colleges and Universities: A Web-Based Analysis." Psychiatric services(0): 00-00.

  • Aluri, J., et al. (2025). "ADHD Assessment and Treatment Services among a National Sample of US Colleges and Universities." Psychiatric services In Advance.   

  • Morris, M. R., et al. (2021). "Use of psychiatric medication by college students: A decade of data." Pharmacotherapy 41(4): 350-358. 

  • Mortenson, L. (2021). Systems and Models of Psychiatric Care for College Students. College Psychiatry: Strategies to Improve Access to Mental Health. M. B. Riba and M. Menon. Cham, Springer International Publishing: 21-36.

  • Alexander, A., et al. (2021). National Trends in College Mental Health. College Psychiatry: Strategies to Improve Access to Mental Health. M. B. Riba and M. Menon. Cham, Springer International Publishing: 1-20.

  • Downs, N., et al. (2018). "Be True to Our Schools-Models of Care in College Mental Health." Current Psychiatry Reports 20(9): 72.

Service utilization

  • Pei, J., et al. (2024). "Sociodemographic correlates of mental health treatment seeking among college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Psychiatric services: appi. ps. 20230414. 

  • Lipson, S. K., et al. (2022). "Trends in college student mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity: Findings from the national healthy minds study, 2013–2021." Journal of affective disorders 306: 138-147.

  • Ebert, D. D., et al. (2019). "Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first-year college students: First cross-national results from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative." International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 28(2): e1782. 

Substance Use

  • Arria, A. M., et al. (2017). "Do college students improve their grades by using prescription stimulants nonmedically?" Addictive behaviors 65: 245-249.

  • Arria, A. M., et al. (2015). "The academic consequences of marijuana use during college." Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 29(3): 564.

  • Miech, R. A., et al. (2017). "The influence of college attendance on risk for marijuana initiation in the United States: 1977 to 2015." American Journal of Public Health 107(6): 996-1002.

  • Aluri, J., et al. (2024). "Associations between college enrollment and trends in substance use among young adults in the US from 2015 to 2019." The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse: 1-11.

Suicide Prevention and Postvention

  • Aluri, J., et al. (2023). "Responding to suicide in school communities: an examination of postvention guidance from expert recommendations and empirical studies." Current Psychiatry Reports: 1-12.

  • Witmer, A. M., et al. (2026). "Higher-risk psychiatric and sociodemographic characteristics predicting referral-seeking among college students using the interactive screening program." Journal of affective disorders: 121449.

  • Wolitzky-Taylor, K., et al. (2020). "Suicide prevention on college campuses: What works and what are the existing gaps? A systematic review and meta-analysis." Journal of American College Health 68(4): 419-429.

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