Osborn, Tom G;
Saunders, Rob;
Fonagy, Peter;
(2025)
Is university attendance associated with differences in health service use for a mental health problem in emerging adulthood? Evidence from the ALSPAC population-based cohort.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
10.1007/s00127-025-02922-3.
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Abstract
Purpose It is unclear whether attending university is associated with health service use for mental health problems in emerging adulthood. As this can be a marker of the onset of mental disorders, we aimed to investigate whether attending university was associated with health service use for a mental health problem by age 24. Methods We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The analytic sample comprised of 2,649 individuals with data on university attendance reported approximately between ages 25 and 26, and health service use for a mental health problem reported around age 24. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between university attendance and health service use, employing confounder adjustment, multiple imputation and propensity score matching to assess the robustness of associations. The study was reported using STROBE guidelines. Results University attendees were less likely to report having used services for mental health problems by 24 years compared to non-university attendees (6.5% vs. 11.4%, odds ratio (OR) = 0.54[95%CI = 0.40;0.72], p < 0.001). This association was robust in the fully adjusted model (aOR = 0.38[95%CI = 0.15;0.94], p = 0.04), propensity score matching and multiple imputation. There was evidence of a differential association among those who were and were not heterosexual and according to maternal education level. Conclusions Our findings suggest individuals who attend university are less likely to use a health service for a mental health problem. Further longitudinal research is needed to investigate potential explanations for these differences. Pre-registration A study protocol was submitted to the ALSPAC team.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Is university attendance associated with differences in health service use for a mental health problem in emerging adulthood? Evidence from the ALSPAC population-based cohort |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00127-025-02922-3 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-025-02922-3 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Emerging adulthood, Health service use, University, Higher education, ALSPAC |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208674 |
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