A just-released study of more than 24,000 students at 14 colleges and universities in Minnesota confirms what CSHAL has been tracking:  stress levels among college students are reaching epidemic proportions.

About 7 out of 10 students reported experiencing stress, with close to half that number believing that the anxiety was having a negative impact on their grades.  Those students not experiencing stress had a 3.37 average grade; those who said they had experienced anxiety and felt that it affected their grades, had only a 3.12 average.

The wide-ranging health study also found that those students who did not get enough sleep, did not exercise much, engaged in drinking or smoking, or used drugs all suffered from lower grades than their counterparts.

A student group called "Mindfulness for Students" plans activities to help students relax, and appears to have had some positive impact on helping students cope with stress.  We will be exploring the effectiveness of peer groups like this one to develop recommendations on how students can better cope with stress.

And we will be analyzing the survey in more detail in coming blog posts, so stay tuned.