Mental Health Symptoms Predicting American College Students’ Academic Performance: The Moderating Role of Peer Support

Abstract

For the current study, we examined the effects of anxiety and depressive symptoms on college students’ academic performance, as moderated by peer support. An online survey was completed by 174 college students (75.3% women, 57.3% White) at a university in the southeast United States, targeting their symptoms of anxiety and depression, perceptions of peer support, and self-report GPA. Utilizing multiple regression analyses to test for moderation, it was found that, although anxiety and depression each negatively predicted students’ college GPA, these connections were moderated by perceived peer support. When students perceived having higher levels of peer support, this buffered against the negative effects of anxiety and depression on their GPA. These findings can contribute to our knowledge of how to support college students’ academic performance in the face of mental health experiences.