Clare Stack
Research Mentor: Not Available Not Available
Mentor Department: Not Available, Not Available
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 2 (10:00 AM – 10:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 9
Abstract
The Michigan Freshman Study aims to identify biomarkers of resilience and vulnerability to
stress in college freshmen. This project investigates antidepressant (AD) usage in this sample of
freshmen. Here we aim to a) identify markers of AD usage and b) determine the efficacy of ADs
in treating anxiety and depression in our cohort. Our sample consists of 749 University of
Michigan freshmen (455 female, 294 male) between 2015-2024. At the start of the academic
year, self-report questionnaires were used to characterize subjects’ psychological state, trait and
family history. Subjects were surveyed quarterly to monitor anxiety and depression as well as
medication usage. We found that 20% of females and 10% of males took ADs during their
freshman year. AD usage increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been coming down
since. Most subjects taking antidepressants have a history of depression or anxiety. Subjects
taking ADs also had higher baseline levels of state and trait anxiety, perceived stress, and
neuroticism. About half of the subjects taking ADs didn’t meet criteria for depression or anxiety
during the freshman year. Many of our subjects do not seem to be benefitting from ADs even
though they appear to be taking them for good reason. While ADs may be an important part of
treating depression and anxiety in college freshmen, it might not be the whole picture as ADs do
not seem to treat the whole problem, so it is crucial that we look to other methods of treatment to
provide added benefit.
Keywords: Antidepressants, depression, anxiety, college freshmen, COVID-19 pandemic
