One in four university students suffer from mental health problems

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A survey was completed by YouGov to investigate how many students suffer with mental health problems. The findings state that one in four of the students asked have mental health problems. This can be deemed as accurate as the results show that 27% of those asked said that they suffered from these issues. However, this may in fact be higher as 16% answered that they would prefer not to say or did not know. The survey asked 1061 students across the UK, which can be a representative sample of all students as there is a low margin of error. Although this survey could be generalised, there is an issue that it is not a consensus and therefore there can be individual differences that could impact the figure. The report refers to percentages of different sexualities, and what percent suffer from mental health problems. The survey may be possible to generalise to the population of university students across the UK, however, it is clear that more straight individuals were asked in comparison to those who are not straight. Around 73% of those questioned were straight, therefore the sample size for those who are not straight is small, meaning that it is hard to claim mental health issues are more prominent in LGBT students. It is also not made clear whether students from all universities were asked, or whether only certain areas were focused on. This can be an issue as the sample may be focused on certain areas, meaning that the headline may not be able to refer to the whole of the United Kingdom. Of those who stated that they suffered from mental health problems, it was found that 77% suffered from depression, and 74% had anxiety related problems. Other mental health problems included eating disorders, behavioural and developmental disorders and learning disabilities. Furthermore, an issue with this survey is that is does not specify whether those who said they suffered from mental health problems were fully diagnosed. Overall, the heading of the report is accurate as all figures are correct, however it is important to note that around 169 people answered that they were unsure or preferred not to say, which could mean that the figure may be distorted from the correct value. The report also does not specify which UK universities were questions, and therefore there may be possible bias in the areas, which could mean that it is difficult to use the figures for the whole of the UK students.

 

Bibliography

 

Aronin, S., and Smith, M. (2016). One in Four Students Suffer from Mental Health Problems. YouGov. [online]. (9 August 2016). Available from: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2016/08/09/quarter-britains-students-are-afflicted-mental-hea/. [Accessed 7 April 2017].

 

Gurney-Read, J. (2016). One in Four University Students Suffer from Mental Health Problems. [online]. (11 August 2016). Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/08/11/one-in-four-university-students-suffer-from-mental-health-proble/. [Accessed 7 April 2017].

 

 

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