Minding many minds: An assessment of mental health and resilience among undergraduate and graduate students; a mixed methods exploratory study.

Objective/ParticipantsThe American College Health Association (ACHA) found that 65.4% of Ontario (Canada) students feel overwhelming anxiety and 89.5% of students feel overwhelmed by all of their obligations. Thus, this study assessed the current state of full-time undergraduate (UGS) and graduate students' (GS) mental health and resilience.MethodsA total of 598-796 UGS and GS completed three questionnaires (BRS, MHI, and SF-36) and a demographic questionnaire, which were distributed campus-wide. Focus groups/individual interviews (n = 30) explored students' mental health- and resilience-related experiences.Results/ConclusionsQuantitatively, participants produced normal levels of resilience on the BRS, below-the-norm levels of anxiety on the MHI, and above-the-norm levels of physical functioning, but below-the-norm levels of six mental-health-related constructs on the SF-36. Qualitatively, GS and UGS felt physical activity (PA) benefited their mental health and resilience, and voiced the need for more counselors. Overall, participants' mental health and resilience were similar to the population.