Research on the Interaction between the Mental Health and Physical Health of College Students

Background: This study aims to explore the predictive effect of college students' baseline mental health status on their physical health status to provide a scientific basis and practical reference for the formulation of mental health education in colleges and universities and strategies for promoting their physical health. Methods: A total of 6,491 undergraduate graduates from six consecutive cohorts (2019--2024) at a comprehensive university were selected as the research subjects. The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) was used to assess their mental health status, and their physical health test scores were incorporated into the analysis. Correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, and other methods were employed to examine the relationships between mental health and physical health test results. Results: There were significant differences in the scores of obsessive-compulsive, depressive, anxious, and phobic factors on the SCL-90 between male and female college students, with female students scoring higher than male students. Students with higher physical health test scores in their first year of college had significantly lower scores for factors such as somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, paranoia, and psychoticism than those in the lower-score group did (P<0.05). Additionally, there was a negative correlation between the scores of these factors and the physical health test scores upon enrollment. There was a significant negative correlation between the comprehensive grade point average (GPA) of physical health and mental health level (P<0.01); that is, students with a higher GPA had a better mental health status. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that somatization, depression, anxiety, and other factors influenced physical health test scores upon enrollment; moreover, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism influenced the comprehensive GPA of physical health. Conclusions: The mental health status of college students has a predictive effect on both their physical health test scores in the first academic year and their comprehensive physical health GPA over the four years of college, with a higher predictive accuracy for the physical health test scores in the first academic year.