A new study published by the American Public Health Association found that suicides and alcohol-related deaths were much lower among college students than their same-aged counterparts in the general population. But because the study asked universities to report their own fatalities, some are questioning its methodology. According to Inside Higher Ed:
“We have these very comprehensive and elaborate safety nets,” said James C. Turner, the study’s lead author and executive director of the University of Virginia student health center. “I think that our mortality study reaffirms that those kinds of things are working, and I think is a strong statement about the public health value afforded by college health services, counseling services, our university security, and the various other student affairs support services.”
That may be so, says Anita Barkin, president of the American College Health Association and student health service director at Carnegie Mellon University. But, as Turner acknowledges in the study, participation was voluntary and colleges don’t have a standardized methodology for collecting this data. Barkin said that can result in botched numbers or no numbers at all.
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