Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Annotated Bibliography:

Mental Health Issues and Persistence

Karina Alvarez

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

Dr. Vierra

March 12, 2019

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Research Questions

• How does forcing a student to withdraw rob them of the opportunities in pursuing a

higher education?

• Who is affected by this and in what ways?

• What can we do to help develop a solution to the problem?

• When will this issue get better? Will it get better at all?

• Where and who can students go to for help if needed?

• Why is this situation a problem for the students and the university itself?

• How do we prevent mental health issues from becoming an even bigger issue for

college and university students in the future?

Revised Research Questions

• Why are mental health issues important for students and the university/ college they are

attending, important to address?

• Do mental health issues affect persistence in higher education?

• What would be the repercussions if this issue was left unaddressed at institutions?

• How does forcing a student to withdraw due to mental health problems rob them of the

opportunities in pursuing persistence in higher education?

• Considering both parties involved, students and the institutions, who is affected more by

the mental health issues that develop amongst the population?

• What can be developed in terms of a solution, to prevent mental health issues from

becoming a bigger problem in institutions than already discussed?

• When did mental health problems start becoming an important issue at institutions?
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• Where do we more often see the issue of mental health problems amongst students?

Smaller institutions for example, community college, or bigger institutions like

universities?
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Annotated Bibliography

Monographs

Iarovici, D. (2014). Mental health issues and the university student. Retrieved from

https://0-ebookcentral-proquest-com.lib.utep.edu/reader.action?docID=3318797

University populations have unique mental health needs that universities need to

prioritize for the student’s persistence in higher education. According to Iarovici (2014),

there has been an uneven application of goals within the last 60 years, including the

psychiatrist’s role on campus to collaborate with other personnel to provide

psychological support, preventative services, and clinical services to provide aid to

students who need treatment (p. 5). Students who struggle with mental health issues may

underperform academically, severely impacting their persistence in higher education.

Therefore, it is imperative that institutions have the proper resources and personnel on

campus to provide help to students who may need it.

Pavela, G. (1985). The dismissal of students with mental disorders: legal issues, policy

considerations, and alternative responses. Asheville, NC: College Administration

Publications.

Students with mental disorders should not be forced to withdraw from school if they

show no threat of violence, violent acts, or use/ display of weapons. Students cannot be

removed based on the sole accusation of someone else who thinks he or she has a mental

disorder. According to Pavela (1985), a survey of 123 institutions of higher education

revealed that the majority of them have found it necessary to make some provision for the

mandatory “medical or psychiatric withdrawal of students (p. 1). However, students

being withdrawn should have serious issues with overwhelming evidence against them.
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Institutions cannot simply remove students because they suffer a disturbance or because

of their state of mind. Pavela (1985) stated, “Students who are merely eccentric or who

simply “cause concern” to others should not be subject to mandatory withdrawal” (p. 61).

It is important for students and the institution staff to be aware of this. For students, if

something like this ever happened, they could get legal help for the injustice. For the

institution, they could face serious legal issues. If someone is to be withdrawn, there

should always be supporting evidence for the reason they are being removed from the

institutions.

Essays

Cantrell, M. (2012). Mental Illness is Prevalent in America. In R. Espejo (Ed.). Opposing

Viewpoints Mental Illness, 21-26. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press. Retrieved from

http://0-

link.galegroup.com.lib.utep.edu/apps/doc/EJ3010154271/OVIC?u=txshracd2603&sid=O

VIC&xid=8743e5af

One in five Americans may suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime, however, many

states lack in having mental health courts, training law enforcement on how to deal with

mentally ill people, and evidence- based treatment for them. According to Cantrell

(2012), Arkansas received an F, failing grade, in March 2009 given by NAMI for lack of

implementing practices to treat mental illness. Arkansas was one of six states to receive

failing grades (p. 22-23). This is important because this can become a big issue for

families and state governments costing a lot of money. As Cantrell (2012) mentioned, the

Van Buren Police Department struggles because the city does not have a facility for the

mentally ill (p. 24). If states had more resources for the mentally ill, including more
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training for officers to deal with them and facilities, they would not struggle as much just

like the person with the mental illness would not struggle either when it comes to

resources for them from the states.

Friedman, R. A. (2012). Mental Health Screenings in Schools Help Children. In R. Espejo (Ed.),

Opposing Viewpoints Mental Illness, 112-118. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press. Retrieved

from http://0-

link.galegroup.com.lib.utep.edu/apps/doc/EJ3010154271/OVIC?u=txshracd2603&sid=O

VIC&xid=8743e5af

Voluntary mental health screenings should be offered more often in schools and

university campuses to help teenagers and young adults. According to Friedman (2012),

half of all adult mental illness cases start by the age of 14 and three-fourths are present at

age 25, leaving most of the mental illnesses in young people untreated and unrecognized

(p. 113). These illnesses could have been caught sooner and treated with the mental

health screenings. Columbia University has a large school-based mental health screening

program for students that is very helpful. Friedman (2012) explains how in 2005, 50,000

young adults were screened and one-third of them got back positive results for some sort

of mental illness, where one-half of them were referred for further evaluations by medical

professionals (p. 115). This is important to the topic of mental health screenings because

it shows how people can get help sooner rather than later with the results they get and

have support during the process. It is important for students to get screenings, voluntarily

of course, if they are available to them. They could help prevent suffering and suicidal

thoughts leading to death. It would be a great help for them in case they ever needed to

get treated by medical professionals.

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Sutton, A. L. (2011). Facts about mental health disorders in youth. (Ed.), Health Reference

Series. Adolescent Health Sourcebook (3rd ed) 351-35. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics.

Retrieved from http://0-

link.galegroup.com.lib.utep.edu/apps/doc/CX1727600109/GVRL?u=txshracd2603&sid=G

VRL&xid=614a3fb0

Mental health is an important part of an adolescent’s life that affects how they think, feel,

act, build relationships, make decisions, and build self- esteem. If an adolescent has a

mental health problem and it follows them through college, it could really affect them

academically. According to Sutton (2011), at least one in five children and adolescents in

any year, express a mental health problem in the United States (p. 351). This is a very high

number of young people who experience mental health issues. If left untreated, it can harm

their development and academic performance. Sutton (2011) states that approximately one

in five of the young people with a mental disorder are not receiving treatment whatsoever

(p. 353). If students are not receiving treatment early on, it will affect persistence in higher

education as they grow older. Therefore, it should be of priority to help those with mental

health issues to better train and educate the world’s future leaders.

Journals

Castillo, L. G., & Schwartz, S. J. (2013). Introduction to the special issue on college student

mental health. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(4), 291-297. doi:10.1002/jclp.21972

Mental health issues in College students is a growing concern. Many colleges do not have

enough resources for these students, which can lead to withdrawal from the school.

According to Castillo and Schwartz (2013), one female student was forced to withdraw

from her school due to a lack of resources for sexual assault victims (p. 291). Sexual
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assault victims may suffer from mental health issues as well, therefore there should be

resources for any kind of mental health issues. Castillo and Schwartz (2013) also

mentioned how over the past decade, the staff of universities have noted an increase in

the number of students seeking psychological services (p. 291). This is important because

as these issues in mental health increase, students will be seeking help and if colleges do

not have enough resources necessary to help these students, it may cause fatalities.

Kutscher, E. L., & Tuckwiller, E. D. (2018). Persistence in higher education for students with

disabilities: A mixed systematic review. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.

Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000088

Mental health disabilities may have varying impacts on persistence in higher education

for students. According to Kutscher and Tuckwiller (2018), postsecondary education

populations consist of 11% of students with disabilities (para 1). It is important that more

attention and help is given to this issue and students with disabilities, so they are able to

proceed in life and education with persistence. Making resources for these types of

students more available and helpful in the institution which they attend, can make a

significant difference to persistence in higher education for students with disabilities that

may struggle because of their mental health issues.

Tosto, P. (2005). Mental health a rising college student issue. Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN),

Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=2W72W712650

43109&site=eds-live&scope=site

Student mental health issues are an important concern in college and university campuses

that may affect a students’ persistence in higher education. According to Tosto (2005),
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86% of campus counseling centers report to have witnessed increasing numbers of

students with mental health problems in recent years (para. 3). It is shown that many

students deal with these mental health issues and can require counseling. However, how

many actually get help from the institutions? According to Tosto (2005), some

universities are now requiring students to withdraw if they suffer from a mental illness

(para. 7). If universities are forcing students to withdraw because of mental health issues,

that can negatively impact a students’ persistence in higher education. Therefore,

institutions should instead offer more helpful resources and services for students, to help

with their mental health and that way it does not interfere with their education path.

VanderLind, R. (2017). Effects of mental health on student learning. Learning Assistance

Review, 22(2), 39-58. Retrieved from http://0-

ebscohost.com.lib.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1154566&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Mental health issues can affect a person’s learning ability and cause concern to

persistence in higher education. According to VanderLind (2017), more support at

institutions for the student population should be offered, given the rising number of

research that shows how mental illness can negatively affect student success and degree

persistence (p. 39). This is an important observation made by VanderLind. If institutions

do not provide helpful resources for students struggling with mental health issues, how

can they expect their students to graduate and be successful? VanderLind (2017) states

that approximately 1.3% to 92% of a random sample of college students in a study

performed, reported some kind of mental health concern (p. 41). Therefore, it is
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imperative that these issues among college and university students is addressed to help

them further their education and succeed in their career field.

Websites

NAMI. (2019). Mental health by the numbers. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Retrieved

from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers

Many people in the United States suffer from mental illnesses. According to NAMI

(2019) millions of Americans are affected by mental health issues every year. In fact,

approximately one in five adults in the United States suffer from mental illnesses and one

in five youth aged 13-18 experience mental disorders at some point in their life that can

be very severe (Prevalence of Mental Illness section). As explained, many young

teenagers develop mental illnesses at a point on their life, which can carry on to

adulthood. It is important that people are aware of this, especially at schools and

universities, in order to be able to provide help to students in college with mental health

issues so it does not interfere with persistence in higher education.

Primary Sources

Hall, J. (2004, October 06). Students trends: changing the face of college students. The

Prospector, p. 11.

A growing concern at the University of Texas at El Paso is a student’s mental health,

which can impact their persistence in higher education. According to Hall (2004), 42% of

students who were interviewed in the American College Health Association’s National

College Health Assessment, reported being impaired by depression, 77% admitted to

feeling sadness within the past year, and 90% reported being overwhelmed (p.11, para 2).

This information is important because it helps others see the issues some students
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struggle with. As such, there should be more ideas and resources available to students

that will get them the help they need and therefore will continue their path to persistence

in higher education.

Hough, R., & Fairbank, D. (1971, December 02). Sociology dept seeks grant. The Prospector, p.

5.

Having mental health screenings performed at universities and colleges may help build

more resources for students who suffer from mental illnesses. According to Hough and

Fairbank (1971), they have requested a grant that will help perform interviews with

people to determine the extent cause of stress that may cause mental illness and provide

useful information to mental hospitals to help determine helpful resources for those with

mental illnesses (p. 5). A study like this would be very helpful to students at universities

that struggle with mental issues. If more resources become available, they can get help

and be able to continue their education without any severe mental health problems

interfering.