Mental health of students and its development between 1994 and 2012

The present study investigated the prevalence of psychological distress in medical and psychology students (n=293) at a German University. Sampling structure, questionnaire and process of this study were a reproduction of a prior study carried out at the same university in 1994 (n=346) which allowed for assessing changes over time. Results show that 12% of students suffered from clinically relevant psychological complaints. Compared to 1994, self-reported mental health problems have significantly decreased. Possible explanations such as an improvement of health care, economic conditions and study conditions are discussed.