mental health status of newly admitted students to tehran university at 1994-1995 academic year

the purpose of this study was to evaluate mental health of tehran university students who were admitted in academic year 1994-95. for this study, 2321 student out of the total number of 4100 were randomly selected. these students were requested to fill general health questionnaire-12 (ghq-12) as well as personal information questionnaire. the results of testing hypothesis of this research showed no significant diference between men and women, single and married and different age group, in the mental health status of newly admitted students. however a significant difference between median scores of students from tehran and other districts is found. the study also showed a significant difference between median scores of students who participated more than 3 times in the entrance exams of the universities and those who did for the first time. the highest percentage of answers belonged to questions about depression and being under strain. according to this screening, 16.5% of students were suspected suffering from a kind of mental disorder. this finding suggests further psychological evaluation and adequate counselling services to promote students mental health.