This study aims to survey depression prevalence and identify key influencing factors.
In 2022, 2.304 students completed an online questionnaire over six months. The survey included the PHQ-9 assessment tool, social media addiction and COVID-19-related factors. One-way ANOVA and post hoc tests analyzed correlations between socio-demographic factors, depression levels and social media addiction.
The study found a severe depression rate of 34%, with freshmen and females particularly affected. Health field students had the highest severe depression rate (52%). Social media addiction was significant among freshmen (29%) and health students (54.4%). Factors such as family infections, study pressure, studying in public places and social media addiction were strongly correlated with increased depression levels. Conversely, spending time with friends and studying at home were protective. Social media addiction notably heightens depression risk. Among those affected, 33.3% experienced severe depression, 18.89% moderately severe, 14.44% moderate and 21.1% mild depression. The study highlights the impact of family COVID-19 infections, academic pressures, studying environments, hometowns, social media usage and limited social interactions on depression. However, causal relationships could not be established due to the cross-sectional design.
This study had some limitations. As a cross-sectional study, causal relationships between variables could not be determined. The smaller sample size from the central and northern regions may not accurately represent those areas. Therefore, this paper did not conduct a comparison between regions in this study. While this study revealed differences in depression ratios among disciplines, this paper lacked sufficient data for causal analysis. Furthermore, the depression levels among health subjects were higher compared to those of other disciplines, possibly due to a higher response rate. However, future studies may delve deeper into these causes across various disciplines, potentially mitigating their impact factors.
The results revealed that individuals with family members infected by COVID-19 experienced higher levels of depression. Moreover, experiencing pressure in the study and studying in public places were linked to an increased level of depression, while spending more time communicating with friends was associated with lower levels of depression. Notably, social media addiction was found to be a significant factor contributing to elevated levels of depression. These findings highlight the importance of targeted interventions and support systems to address these factors and promote mental well-being and the overall quality of life for university students. Universities need to provide support services for students, including mental health awareness programs in study spaces, increased community activities, dedicated study areas and access to mental health support hotlines. Further research is needed to develop deeper into the underlying mechanism and develop evidence-based strategies for the prevention, early detection and treatment of depression in this specific population.
