Contribution to CHER 2026 annual conference (Consortium of Higher Education Researchers) in Catania, Italien

Authors: Philipp Pohlenz1, Gunnar Voß1, Stephan Weihrauch1, Heike Ohlbrecht1, Tobias Gütter2, Irene Moor2

1 = Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg
2= Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Measuring Student Mental Health Across Disciplinary Boundaries: Contrasting Lessons from Higher Education and Health Surveys

Student mental health is studied in health science and higher education research, but the two traditions construct different objects of explanation. We use paired secondary analyses of the German National Educational Panel Study Starting Cohort 5 (NEPS) and the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS 1) to examine what becomes visible through their contrasting survey architectures. In the enrolled NEPS sample (N = 3,014), stronger peer social capital predicted fewer mentally unhealthy days three years later, whereas relations with teaching staff showed no independent total association. In the DEGS1 young-adult proxy, low rather than strong perceived support was associated with a higher PHQ-9 score in a design-corrected model. Its association with reaching the PHQ-9 threshold was directionally similar but imprecise. The convergence is theoretically informative but not a direct replication: NEPS locates relations within higher education while measuring mental health broadly; DEGS1 differentiates depressive symptoms but renders the university context invisible.

Weiterführende Links: www.cher2026.eu

Contact

Philipp Pohlenz

Otto-von-Guericke-Universität
Universitätsplatz 2
39106 Magdeburg
Deutschland

T +49 391 67-56818
philipp.pohlenz@ovgu.de