My Health, your health, our health. A study on mental health and risk-taking behaviors of young adults on five university campuses in the heart of Canada

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a time of dramatic change in one’s life. At this stage, youth are developing skills to be able to support themselves and manage academic and financial responsibilities, while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that disturbances at this stage may have a strong impact on one’s psychological health and ability to adapt to change; emotional instability may have repercussions on performance and psychosocial functioning. Due to direct contact with young adults, postsecondary institutions are priviledged settings for health promotion activities. A mental health strategy developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada suggests that to successfully promote health, and treat and prevent mental health issues, the following should be considered: 1) know who to reach; 2) strengthen protective factors and reduce risk factors; 3) set clear goals; 4) give communities what they need to take action; and 5) plan for the long term. This research project builds on this strategy. Our long term goal is to promote the well-being of university students by developing a screening tool and developing sustainable initiatives on campus and within the community, taking into consideration available resources. As such, we must first gain insight into the mental health status of the student population, including the risk and protective factors specific to these students. Thus, health promotion efforts will be more efficient, as they will have been created according to student needs and in consultation with this population. This study was conducted in five universities in three provinces, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, to gain insight into the impact of the linguistic context on mental health and risk-taking behaviors of students. The five participating universities were chosen mainly because of their small size and linguistic environment: Brandon University and the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue are in linguistic majority settings, whereas the Université de Saint-Boniface and Bishop’s University are in linguistic minority communities. In addition, participants were recruited from the only bilingual university in the country (University of Ottawa). Thus, data will be analysed according to various influencing factors, including the linguistic environment. The main objective of this study is to gain insight into the mental health status and predominant risk behaviors of university students in both majority and minority linguistic settings in Canada and to identify protective and risk factors relative to their well-being. The ultimate goal is to help those in need achieve academic success. This report is descriptive: it presents general data related to sociodemographic and ethnolinguistic profiles, mental health and related behaviors, road safety, bullying and sexual harassment, sexual practices, alcohol, drug and tobacco use and use of new technologies, according to gender, for each of the postsecondary institutions. A survey was conducted online or in print form at the end of November 2018 and in February 2019. In total, 2075 students participated. Statistical analysis of frequencies and proportions according to gender were used to describe participants and their behaviors