Colleges and universities are a unique context in which students encounter similar aged peers from a wide range of economic backgrounds. As emerging adults coping with major life transitions, students may be especially sensitive to upward contrasts with other students who have advantages that they feel they deserve (personal relative deprivation or PRD). We surveyed a population of university students when they were second‐ and third‐year students (N = 309), and 2 years later, when they were fourth‐ and fifth‐year students (N = 400). Increased PRD predicted increased anxiety and depression—even after accounting for students’ access to social support, the degree to which they identified with the university, and their gender, family income, ethnic background, and whether the student was a first‐generation college student. For a third separate sample of students who completed both surveys (N = 168), PRD predicted students’ mental health two years later even after accounting for their earlier anxiety and depression. In all three samples, PRD mediated the relationship between self‐reported family income and mental health. These data indicate that universities and colleges should consider a broad range of interventions and policies that can mitigate the impact of upward social contrasts.

中文翻译：

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大学生的个人相对剥夺与心理健康：横断面和纵向证据

高校是一个独特的背景，学生会遇到来自不同经济背景的相似年龄的同龄人。随着新兴成年人应对主要的生活转变，学生可能会对与其他认为自己应得的优势（个人相对剥夺或PRD）的其他学生的向上对比特别敏感。我们调查了大二，大三学生（N = 309）和两年后大四和五年级（N= 400）。PRD的增加预示着焦虑和抑郁的加剧，即使考虑了学生获得社会支持的机会，他们对大学的认同程度，性别，家庭收入，种族背景以及该学生是否是第一代大学生之后。对于完成这两项调查的学生的第三个独立样本（N = 168），珠三角在考虑了他们较早的焦虑和抑郁之后，在两年后预测了学生的心理健康。在所有这三个样本中，珠三角都介导了自我报告的家庭收入与心理健康之间的关系。这些数据表明，大学和学院应该考虑广泛的干预措施和政策，以减轻向上的社会对比的影响。