College student norms on the Brief Symptom Inventory

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Student Mental Health

Background:

• The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) is a widely used psychological assessment tool.
• Understanding the psychological distress experienced by college students is crucial for effective intervention.
• Existing normative data for the BSI may not accurately reflect the college student population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the psychological distress levels of college students with normative samples of older adults and younger adolescents.
• To identify specific symptom dimensions where college students differ from other age groups.
• To inform the appropriate use of the Brief Symptom Inventory in college mental health services.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Brief Symptom Inventory to a sample of 204 female and 143 male college students.
• Compared mean scores on nine primary symptom dimensions with existing normative data.
• Utilized statistical analysis to determine significant differences between groups.

Main Results:

• College students reported significantly higher overall levels of psychological distress compared to the adult normative sample.
• The pattern of reported symptoms in college students differed from that of younger adolescents.
• Specific symptom dimensions showed notable variations across the compared groups.

Conclusions:

• The psychological distress profile of college students warrants specific consideration.
• Counselors and clinicians should consider using college-level norms when interpreting BSI results for this population.
• The findings highlight the need for tailored mental health support and assessment strategies for college students.