Student mental health is a significant public health issue, particularly for students who are isolated. The observed prevalence of psychological distress (falling within the anxiety-depression spectrum) and suicide risk has been widely documented in the scientific literature, with numerous articles highlighting that a large proportion of students experience frequent episodes of psychological distress during their studies (25.7% in a recent cohort study in France). These episodes of distress have also been associated with an increased risk of self-harm and an increased risk of psychoactive substance use. Finally, students experiencing psychological distress are at greater risk of academic failure. The identified risk factors primarily concern individual factors (personality, psychiatric history, gender—with women being at higher risk—precarious living conditions, and life events, among others). The role of social support and social participation has been studied less frequently, but findings suggesting a negative association between these two factors and suicidal ideation and psychological distress open up a promising area of research. We will present the results of a recent study that examined the individual, social, and community factors associated with mental health assessment in a nationally representative sample of 4,075 students, drawn from data in the 2010 Health Barometer conducted by INPES. The MH-5 was used as a measure of mental health. The results show that MH-5 scores are high in the study population (indicating a high level of mental health). Two linear regression models are proposed to account for factors associated with lower MH-5 scores. The role of social participation, which is particularly associated with mental health scores, will be discussed in more detail. Source: poster cited in the "Revue d'épidémiologie et de santé publique" in Supplement 4, Issue 61.