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College students are at significant risk for mental health problems. Symptoms of anxiety and depression appear to be the most common concerns, with studies generating prevalence estimates as high as 53.8% for moderate to severe depression (Garlow et al., 2008) and 52.8% for moderate to severe anxiety (Rosenthal & Schreiner, 2000). This is concerning because studies have documented how problems with anxiety and depression negatively affect students' academic performance, class attendance, retention, career selection, relationship development, physical health, and general well-being (Baez, 2005; Miller & Chung, 2009). Compounding those problems is the fact that the vast majority of college students experiencing mental health problems do not receive treatment. This is true even though most colleges have medical and psychological treatment providers on campus, and there are many effective treatments for both anxiety and depression (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010).
There is a clear need for colleges to do a better job of identifying students who may benefit from treatment and encouraging those students to actually seek help (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). Indeed, research suggests that population-based screening can encourage college students who are at risk for mental health problems to seek treatment (Kim, Coumar, Lober, & Kim, 2011). Unfortunately, there is currently tremendous variability regarding the extent to which colleges effectively screen students for mental health problems (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010) and a shortage of measures designed for this purpose. Currently, we are aware of only one population-based screening measure that was developed specifically for use with college students. The Symptoms and Assets Screening Scale (SASS; Downs, Boucher, Campbell, & Dasse, 2013) is a 34-item measure designed to identify students at risk for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders.
Although there is a relative dearth of screening measures available for professionals who work with college students, several instruments have been developed for use by physicians to identify patients with medical concerns who are also experiencing mental health problems. One such measure is the World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5; Johansen, 1998). Although the WHO-5 measure was originally developed to assess the quality of life in patients suffering from diabetes, Topp, 0stergaard, Sondergaard, and Bech (2015) found the measure to perform well as a screening tool for individuals at risk for depression. The WHO-5 is...