College freshmen are spending less time with friends than ever, a survey released Thursday shows, a shift that experts say may reflect declining mental health. The University of California, Los Angeles, Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s annual survey shows that incoming students in 2014 reported the lowest level of self-rated emotional health since the survey began 49 years ago. The survey included responses from 153,015 first-time, full-time students at 227 colleges and universities. Students « are more stressed because they’re not allowing themselves to find the release from all of the stress, » said Kevin Eagan, director of the UCLA program, who said he sees a connection between the decline in socializing and in emotional health.
