Studies often equate mental health with the presence of psychological symptoms. Contemporary views are now focusing on well-being and life functioning rather than solely on symptomatic distress. The current study compared college counseling center clients, college students not in treatment, adults in outpatient psychotherapy, and adults not in treatment. The two student groups demonstrated differences in patterns of presenting problems. In addition, adults not in treatment (healthiest), college students, college counseling center clients, and adult outpatients (most distressed/dysfunctional) differed on severity of well-being, psychological symptoms, life-functioning, and global mental health. Implications for treatment planning and outreach programs for those working with college populations are discussed.
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Green et al. (2003) studied this question.
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