Mental Health Concerns’ Impact on Graduation Intent and Improvement for Brief Counseling

Abstract

Three online undergraduate survey samples were collected: not-in-counseling (NIC); initial counseling session (ICS), that is, only triage; and brief counseling (BC), a median of four counseling sessions over an eight-week average. Results showed that mental health concerns significantly explained intent to graduate after controlling for background variables and institutional commitment for the NIC and ICS samples. For the smaller BC sample, composed of freshmen and transfer students or “transitional students,” counseling treatment led to a significant decrease in mental health concerns. For “transitional” students, a university counseling center may be particularly useful in helping these students adjust to their new college environment and persist toward graduation.