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1. Friends Helping Friends™

2. Subpopulations at Greater Risk

   1. Ethnic Minority Students
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   4. Male Students
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   6. Graduate Students
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Graduate Students

In 2001, there were 1.9 million graduate students studying in American colleges and universities (U.S. Department of Education & National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). These students are present in diverse educational institutions and programs. In addition, the students themselves are divers in their personal, professional, intellectual, and psychological traits and abilities (Committee on the College Student, Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, 1999).

Although there are many graduate students in today's colleges and universities, most research on the mental health needs of college students has focused on undergraduate students (Benton, Robertson, Tseng, Newton & Benton, 2003); failed to differentiate between the needs of undergraduate and graduate students (O'Neil, Lancee & Freedman, 1994; Pledge, Lapan, Heppner, Kivlinghan & Roehlke, 1998; Westsfeld & Furr, 1987); or has only focused on subpopulations of graduate students (i.e. medical and psychology students) (Givens & Tjia, 2002; Nelson, Dell'Oliver, Koch, & Buckler, 2001; Noguiera-Martins, Fagnani Neto, Macedo, Citero & Mari, 2004; Toews et al, 1997).

Students in graduate school are under a great deal of stress, but gender can enter into the equation as well. Studies have documented the differences in men and women and mental health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004), the prevalence of frequent mental distress is increasing for the general population, but this is especially true for women. This is of concern for graduate programs, given that women make up approximately half of all graduate students are women (Hyun, Quinn, Madon, Lustig, 2006). Several studies have noted that women in graduate school experience higher levels of stress and role conflict than male counterparts (Malinckrodt & Leong, 1992; McLaughin, 1985; Toews et al, 1997). Although this is true, women do tend to seek counseling more often than men (Benton et al, 2003; Pledge et al, 1998).

Page updated: 01-Dec-2011

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