Depressive Symptoms and Academic Performance in College Students
WILLIAM WHITNEY PH.D.1,
REMI J. CADORET M.D.2, , and
JAMES N. McCLURE JR. M.D.2
1 Assistant Professor and Counselor of Education, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla. 32306
2 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.
The authors administered a questionnaire concerning mental health and functioning to freshmen at a state university. They found a relationship between students' self-ratings for depressive symptoms and their academic performance in the semester following the test. The higher the number of depressive symptoms students admitted to, the lower their grade-point average; however, chronic feelings of inadequacy did not correlate with grade-point average. This suggests the importance of distinguishing a depressive syndrome from conditions such as chronic inadequacy.
