Depression and Related Problems in University Students

Abstract

Method: Depression and related problems were studied in a sample of 283 university students. Results: The students with high depression scores also had high scores on anxiety, intrusive thoughts, controlling intrusive thoughts and sleep disturbances scales. A stepwise regression suggested that those problems contributed to a significant proportion of the variance (49%) on the depression scores. Conclusion: The two subscales of the depression scale that were most highly correlated with these variables were the depressed affect and the vegetative symptoms subscales. Keywords: depression; university students; anxiety; sleep disturbances ********** The incidence of depression in university students is relatively high in many countries, ranging from: 1) 16% in a large survey study in Michigan (Eisenberg et al 2007); 2) to being more in a university population than in the public in general in London (Andrews et al 2006); 3) to being prevalent in Australia (Khawaja & Bryden, 2006); 4) to approximating 23% in Nigeria (Aniebue & Onyema, 2008); 5) to 27% in Turkey (Bayram & Bilgel, 2008); 6) to numbers ranging from 9% for major depression episodes (Vazquez & Blanco, 2008) to 33% for depressive symptoms in Spain (Vazquez & Blanco, 2006); and 7) to a range between 21% for major depression (Tomoda et al, 2000) and 33% for mild depression in Japan (Kawada et al, 2007). Wide variations in depression symptoms were also observed between countries in a very large sample of university students from 23 high, middle and low income countries (Steptoe et al, 2007). In that study, lower levels were reported in western and southern Europe as well as South and North America, intermediate levels in central and eastern Europe and higher levels in Pacific-Asian samples. Although the reasons for these wide variations are unknown, they could relate to the use of different measures (e.g. diagnostic versus self-reports, ratings of depression, making it difficult to compare results), non-representative and/or small samples (as in countries with noncentralized treatment settings) or simply cultural differences. The incidence of depression in university students is not only increasing in foreign countries but also in the U.S. In a 2005 national survey of college counseling center directors, 86% reported an increase in severe psychological problems including depression (Gallagher et al, 2005). This increasing incidence is problematic given that Major Depression Disorder in adulthood has its first onset during or shortly before college age (Kessler et al, 2005). These incidence data highlight the importance of understanding depression and related problems in university students. Among the most commonly reported problems related to depression are anxiety, intrusive thoughts, controlling intrusive thoughts and sleep disturbances. Various studies have reported relationships between depression and one or more of these variables. However, this group of problems has not been assessed in the same sample. The purpose of this study was to assess all of these problems in one sample to determine the extent to which they are related to and the relative degree to which these problems contribute to the university students' depression. Knowing the relative importance of these variables can help formulate treatment strategies. Evidence for these depression-related problems comes from studies where only one or two of these conditions were studied. Anxiety has often been comorbid with depression in university students as it is in adults (Andrews & Wilding, 2004; Eisenberg et al, 2007). For example, in one study 27% of university students were depressed, and 47% of those students also received high anxiety ratings (Bayram & Bilgel, 2008), with higher anxiety scores among the female students. And, both depression and anxiety have been associated with intrusive thoughts, controlling intrusive thoughts and sleep disturbances (Dusselier et al, 2005). …

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