A Comparison of Mental Health and Alcohol Use Between Traditional and Nontraditional Students

Objective: To describe differences in life stress, anxiety, depression, and alcohol use between traditional and nontraditional college students. Participants: A targeted, stratified sample of college students (N = 1,187; M-age = 23.96, SD = 7.30; female, 67.2%) completed study surveys in Spring 2011. Methods: Participants completed demographic information, life stress (Crisis in Family Systems), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), and alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption) surveys during regularly scheduled class times. Results: Fifty-three percent (n = 630) of study participants were nontraditional students. Nontraditional students scored significantly higher than traditional students on life stress (t[1182] = -3.05, p < .01), anxiety (t[1175] = -2.20, p < .05), and depression (t[1174] = -2.22, p < .05). Nontraditional and traditional students did not differ on alcohol use. Conclusions: Interventions for nontraditional college students should address the mental health issues specific to this growing college subpopulation.