Counseling brazilian undergraduate students: 17 years of a campus mental health service.

OBJECTIVE

The authors reviewed demographic and clinical characteristics of undergraduates at a Brazilian public university (UNICAMP) who visited the campus mental health service (SAPPE) and compared their demographics with those from all undergraduate students enrolled in the university.

PARTICIPANTS

The authors looked at data from all undergraduates who sought counseling or mental health care at SAPPE over a 17-year period (N = 2,203; 1987-2004).

METHODS

They obtained this information from clinical charts and a UNICAMP database.

RESULTS

Women, students from other Brazilian states, students living in the campus residence hall, and students whose main source of income was a scholarship were overrepresented. Female student-clients complained about family conflicts more frequently than did their male counterparts, and male student-clients reported concern about poor academic performance more frequently than did their female counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

Sex, living in a university residential facility, and reliance on a scholarship grant were predictive of undergraduates' mental health-seeking behavior and pattern of complaints.