Personal Relative Deprivation and Mental Health Among University Students: Cross‐sectional and Longitudinal Evidence

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.