Psychological distress in the university and the field of Collective Mental Health: a 46-year integrative review

College students’ mental health has become a pressing issue, demanding answers from educators and health professionals. Universities are seeking public health systems to address students’ psychological distress and ensure access to care. This presents a new challenge for mental health public policies designed for extreme cases in low-income populations stigmatized as insane and denied citizenship. College students don’t fit this frame. They are educated, productive, and socially competent even though they are affected by specific vulnerabilities linked to social markers of difference, in an intersectional perspective. In this article, we discuss the scientific production on college students’ mental health through an integrative review of publications from the scientific journals “Saúde em Debate” and “Ciência & Saúde Coletiva” over 46 years (1976-2022). We identify a gap and stress the need to work with universities to create services that align with the reality and complexity of this issue.

Key words:
Universities; Mental health; Student Health; Public health policy; Integrative review