Faculty Evaluations of Student Applicants Who Disclose Mental Health Information: An Empirical Examination

Many resources recommend that applicants do not disclose mental health information in their application materials; however, empirical research has yet to examine whether such disclosures lead to more negative evaluations. The purpose of the current study was to experimentally test whether applicant disclosure of a history of depression and/or psychotherapy use would result in more negative faculty evaluations. Further, we aimed to test several predictors of faculty evaluations and recommendations regarding mental health disclosures. Faculty participants (N = 184) were asked to evaluate a randomly assigned, fictional applicant who varied in their disclosure of a mental health history in a 2 (depression history: no disclosure, disclosure) × 2 (psychotherapy history: no disclosure, disclosure) factorial design. Although faculty did rate the applicant as equally suitable and likely to succeed in graduate school, faculty were less likely to recommend accepting the applicant when a history of depression was disclosed. Faculty evaluations did not differ based on a disclosure of psychotherapy use. The majority of faculty recommended against disclosing mental health information in application materials; however, faculty from counseling programs and scholar-practitioner programs were more open to disclosures. Implications and future directions are discussed. Public Significance Statement This study investigated faculty evaluations of disclosures of a mental health history in application materials. The findings suggest that applicants may be rated more negatively if they disclose a history of depression, but a disclosure of psychotherapy use may not impact faculty evaluations. By and large though, the faculty participants recommended against either type of disclosure.