A mixed method study to examine the mental health problems of college students who had left-behind experiences

Background: China's rapid urbanization has created a large number of labour transferring from rural to urban areas and large numbers of college students with left-behind experience (LBE). LBE was an important influencing factor on college students’ mental health. Methods: A mixed method involving quantitative survey and qualitative interview was emplyed to explore the influence of LBE on mental health of college students. In the quantitative survey, 1605 college students from three different universities of Shandong province in China were recruited. Their mental health status was measured using Symptom Check-list 90(SCL-90 scale) compiled by American psychologist Derogatis. In the qualitative interview, 40 college students with left-behind experience from the same three universities were interviewed. Results: The prevalence estimate of total mental health problems among left-behind students was 2.14 times higher than that among those without left-behindexperience. LBE increased the problems of somatization, obsessive-compulsion (Ocd), international sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, terror, paranoia, psychoticism and other symptoms. The result of qualitative interview showed the mental health problems of the college students with left-behind experience were mainly on anxiety, depression, Ocd, interpersonal sensitive and hostility, which was consistent with the results of quantitative survey. Limitation: Representativeness of the sample is the major limitation of our study. Due to rare similar studies performed in other countries, we could not compare the results in China to that in other countries. Conclusion: Left-behind experience was an important factor associated with the mental health of college students. The mental health of college students with LBE needs more attention.