The prevalence of school shootings and other campus violence incidents have called attention to the increasing number of college students who are living with Mental Health Disorders (MHDs). There is a substantial amount of literature on MHDs among college students who are attending 4-year universities. However, the literature is lacking research on MHDs among community college students. The purpose of the current study was to analyze archival data to investigate residential community college students’ awareness of MHDs and their willingness to refer a friend who was showing signs of an MHD to facilitative and debilitative resources. The results of a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed that residential community college students who had high levels of awareness of MHDs were significantly more willing to refer a friend who was showing signs of an MHD to facilitative resources (for example taking them to the counseling center) compared to students with low levels of awareness. This finding was significant at the p = .000 level with a strong effect size, η2p = .13. In addition, male students were significantly more likely than female students to refer a friend who was showing signs of MHDs to debilitative resources (encouraging them to engage in risky behaviors). Implications for how community college counselors and administrators can take initiatives to increase students’ awareness of MHDs are discussed.
Kalkbrenner, Mike & Thomas J. Hernández (2017) Community College Students’ Awareness of Risk Factors for Mental Health Problems and Referrals to Facilitative and Debilitative Resources. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 41:1, 56-64, DOI:10.1080/10668926.2016.1179603.