Research on education and mental health has focused primarily on the benefits of higher levels of educational attainment. Other aspects of education, such as college selectivity, may also be associated with mental health, and higher subjective social status (SSS) is a potential pathway through which college selectivity and mental health could be linked. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study (a) examines whether college selectivity influences mental health independent of objective measures of socioeconomic status and (b) assesses the role of SSS in this relationship. Among college graduates, attending a more selective college is associated with higher ratings of SSS, which in turn are associated with fewer depressive symptoms and lower perceived stress and anxiety. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of college selectivity and SSS in the mental health of young adults.

关于教育和心理健康的研究主要集中在更高水平的教育水平的收益上。教育的其他方面，例如大学的选择性，也可能与心理健康有关，较高的主观社会地位（SSS）是大学选择性与心理健康之间可能存在联系的潜在途径。这项研究使用了《青少年对成人健康的国家纵向研究》的数据，（a）研究了大学的选择性是否独立于社会经济地位的客观衡量指标而影响心理健康，并且（b）评估了SSS在这种关系中的作用。在大学毕业生中，就读率更高的大学与SSS的评分较高相关，而SSS的评分较高，而抑郁症状的减少和所感知的压力和焦虑的减少则与之相关。