Longitudinal Influence of Behavioral Health, Emotional Health, and Student Involvement on College Student Retention

Abstract

Student attrition in higher education is a pervasive problem. In this analysis, we used a longitudinal sample of nearly 10,000 university students to examine the relative importance of social, behavioral, and interpersonal factors on student retention over time. Our findings show that increased depressive symptoms, antisocial behaviors, exposure to stressful events, and substance use are consistently related to increased risk of dropping out of college. Our findings also show that protective factors related to student involvement are most effective in students' earlier years of college. These findings support administrative efforts to maximize student retention by engaging newer students and addressing student behavioral health concerns.