A Study on the Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms and its Associated Risk Factors among the Female University Students in Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56976/rjsi.v2i1.5Keywords:
Depressive Symptoms, Female Students, Academia, Body Mass Index, Socio-economic StatusAbstract
The prevalence of depressive symptoms is a recognized mental health issue among students enrolled in university. It is because they pass through an age of transition by shifting from adolescence to adulthood, and resultantly they adopt new roles, responsibilities, and tasks. Such roles are sometimes perceived as stressful, therefore leading to the development of depressive symptoms. This study has examined the prevalence of depressive symptoms among the students (female)enrolled in the newly established university of Pakistan by determining the socio-demographic and related risk factors of major depression. In this regard, a cross-sectional (case study) design was espoused and data were collected from 105 female students via through a self-reported questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The results showed that the prevalence of symptoms of depression and its allied risk factors changed according to the socio-economic and demographic profiles of the students. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher among students, who were between the ages of 18 to 20 years, single students, enrolled in undergraduate programs, and those in the first semester. On the other side, the related risk factors of depressive symptoms include marital status, socioeconomic status of students, and less weight BMI >18kg/m2). It is therefore concluded that depression is a recognized mental health issue in academia. Since depressive symptoms interfere with the routine activities of the students and may affect their academic performance, therefore, it is suggested that the students may be properly educated about their mental health. The administration of the university should also provide a conducive and favorable environment to its students, in this way the students can be prevented the detrimental effects of depression.
References
Albert, P. R. (2015). Why is depression more prevalent in women? Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience: JPN, 40(4), 219.
Bayram, N., & Bilgel, N. (2008). The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(8), 667–672.
Chashmposh, M., Shirasli, S., Ebrahimi, E., & Barari, A. (2015). Correlation Between Hormonal and Neurochemical Changes and Depression With Menopausal STATUS: A Systematic Review. Women’s Health Bulletin, 2(3), 25-39.
Choi, H.J., & Back, S.G. (2015). A Study on Depressive disposition by Convergence approach of Leisure History and Family situation in Elderly Women. Journal of the Korea Convergence Society, 6(5), 295–302.
Dobson, K. S., & Dozois, D. J. A. (2011). Risk Factors in Depression. Elsevier Science.
El-Gilany, A., El-Wehady, A., & El-Wasify, M. (2012). Updating and validation of the socioeconomic status scale for health research in Egypt. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 18(9), 962-968.
Fawzy, M., & Hamed, S. A. (2017). Prevalence of psychological stress, depression and anxiety among medical students in Egypt. Psychiatry Research, 255, 186–194.
Fiske, A., Wetherell, J. L., & Gatz, M. (2009). Depression in older adults. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 5, 363–389.
Fitzpatrick, J. M. (2017). Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Teen Dating Violence Victims’ Responses to Partner Suicidal Ideation. In Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Among Contemporary Youth (Vol. 23). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Fitzpatrick, & Willis, D. (2018). Risks, resources, and depressive symptomatology among Marshallese adolescents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 88(2), 189.
Friedman, E. S., & Anderson, I. M. (2014). Handbook of Depression: Second Edition. Springer Healthcare Limited.
Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9(1), 139–145.
Hauge, L. J., Skogstad, A., & Einarsen, S. (2010). The relative impact of workplace bullying as a social stressor at work. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(5), 426–433.
Hoare, E., Millar, L., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Skouteris, H., Nichols, M., Malakellis, M., … Allender, S. (2016). Depressive symptomatology, weight status and obesogenic risk among Australian adolescents: a prospective cohort study. BMJ Open, 6(3), e010072.
Hosmer, D. W., Lemeshow, S., & Sturdivant, R. X. (2013). Applied Logistic Regression. Wiley.
January, J., Madhombiro, M., Chipamaunga, S., Ray, S., Chingono, A., & Abas, M. (2018). Prevalence of depression and anxiety among undergraduate university students in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol. Systematic reviews, 7(1), 1-5.
Kim, J. A., Yang, S. J., Chee, Y. K., Kwon, K. J., & An, J. (2015). Effects of health status and health behaviors on depression among married female immigrants in South Korea. Asian Nursing Research, 9(2), 125–131.
Kinser, P. A., & Lyon, D. E. (2014). A conceptual framework of stress vulnerability, depression, and health outcomes in women: potential uses in research on complementary therapies for depression. Brain and Behavior, 4(5), 665–674.
Mendenhall, E., Kohrt, B. A., Norris, S. A., Ndetei, D., & Prabhakaran, D. (2017). Non-communicable disease syndemics: poverty, depression, and diabetes among low-income populations. The Lancet, 389(10072), 951–963.
Mills, A. J., Durepos, G., & Wiebe, E. (2010). Encyclopedia of Case Study Research. SAGE Publications.
Nemiary, D., Shim, R., Mattox, G., & Holden, K. (2012). The Relationship Between Obesity and Depression Among Adolescents. Psychiatric Annals, 42(8), 305–308.
Osborn, T. L., Venturo-Conerly, K. E., Wasil, A. R., Schleider, J. L., & Weisz, J. R. (2020). Depression and anxiety symptoms, social support, and demographic factors among Kenyan high school students. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(5), 1432-1443.
Pedras, S., Carvalho, R., & Pereira, M. G. (2018). Predictors of quality of life in patients with diabetic foot ulcer: the role of anxiety, depression, and functionality. Journal of health psychology, 23(11), 1488-1498.
Rotenstein, L. S., Ramos, M. A., Torre, M., Segal, J. B., Peluso, M. J., Guille, C., … Mata, D. A. (2016). Prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation among medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Jama, 316(21), 2214–2236.
Sörberg Wallin, A., Koupil, I., Gustafsson, J. E., Zammit, S., Allebeck, P., & Falkstedt, D. (2018). Academic performance and depression: 26 000 adolescents followed into adulthood. European Journal of Public Health, 28(4), 213-360.
Taylor, W. D. (2014). Depression in the elderly. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(13), 1228–1236.
Wahed, W. Y. A., & Hassan, S. K. (2017). Prevalence and associated factors of stress, anxiety and depression among medical Fayoum University students. Alexandria Journal of Medicine, 53(1), 77–84.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Research Journal for Societal Issues
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
