Relationship between Mental Health, Demographic Variables and Academic Achievement of Medical Sciences Students

Background and The importance of studying mental health at universities is precious، because of expressed linkage to the students'' educational progress. The main goal of the current research has been the study of effects of mental health on educational progress among students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences، in the year 2012. This research is a descriptive-comparative cross-sectional study. The subjects included 334 students، 153 males and 181 females of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences which were selected through stratified random sampling. In order to gather the research data، the Goldberg''s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used. %45. 8 of students had good mental health status، while %54. 2 of them was suspected to have mental health disorders. Between age، gender، faculty، birth order، parental status، university entrance semester، and mental health of students، there were not significant differences (P≥ 0. 05)، but the variable «marital status» (P=0. 034)، the variable «average monthly earnings» (P≤0. 001)، and average grade points of students (P≤0. 001) were related to their mental health. Another finding of the research showed that most of students had some degree of disorders linked to the four dimensions of questionnaires'' queries، most disorders were social function. Considering the results of this study، including the mutual correlation between mental health and academic performance، the high rate of mental problems and suspect cases of mental disorders among the students، the serious attention to this issue is of high importance to resolve the mental health problems of students and activating Students Consultancy Centers. Hence، the assistance of consultants، professors and specialists، comprehensive planning، and interventions towards the promotion of mental health to prevent and treat psychological disorders، will be effective for students'' educational progress.