Aim: To estimate the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and associated factors in a population of college students. Method: Cross-sectional study of psychological distress measured through the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) in a sample of 1074 college students. Results: We found a moderate prevalence of depression (18.4%), anxiety (23.6%) and stress (34.5%) symptoms in our study population. Being <21, having problematic Internet use behavior, smoking, presenting insomnia and having a low self-esteem were independently associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Being a woman, living with their family, having a stable partner, consuming alcohol frequently and having poor nutritional habits were significantly associated with symptoms of stress; lacking a stable partner was significantly associated with depressive symptoms; and frequent consumption of alcohol was significantly associated with symptoms of anxiety. Conclusion: We found a moderate prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in our population. Interventions aimed at promoting mental health among college students should be implemented.

Given that there is only a limited body of evidence available concerning the dietary habits of Spanish university students, the present study assesses the quality of this group’s diet, their adherence to the National Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, and the predictive factors of their diet quality. To do so, a cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 1055 students. The quality of the participants’ diets was then analysed by using the Spanish Healthy Eating Index, and then their level of compliance was assessed in light of the dietary recommendations put forth by the Spanish Society for Community Nutrition. According to these standards, only 17.4% of the participants had a healthy diet. The level of compliance with the recommendations was poor, highlighting especially the low levels of “fruit” and “vegetables” that they consumed as well as high levels of “cold meats and cuts” and “sweets.” The factors that predicted a worse diet are being male, living alone, low levels of physical activity, smoking, high alcohol intake, leading a sedentary lifestyle, psychological distress, and insomnia (p < 0.005). Furthermore, participants with low or high body weights showed signs of a higher quality diet (p < 0.001). The present findings suggest that a significant proportion of university students ought to change their dietary habits; these also attest to the importance of developing strategies that are directly targeted at university students in order to promote a healthy diet.

(1) Background: To examine the prevalence, and associated factors of, problematic Internet use in a sample of Spanish university students. (2) Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study of a convenience sample of 698 university students. Self-esteem, alcohol consumption, perceived social support, depression, anxiety, stress and problematic Internet use were evaluated using the Rosenberg, CAGE, DUKE-UNC-11, DASS-21 and Young’s Internet Addiction Test, respectively. (3) Results: Problematic internet use was reported by 21% of respondents. Risk of problematic Internet use was independently associated with the preferred use of the smartphone, time of exposure to the Internet, less perceived social support, problematic alcohol consumption and symptoms of stress and anxiety. We found significant association between problematic internet use and time of exposure to the Internet, residential status, alcohol consumption, self-esteem, perceived social support and psychological distress, after bivariate analysis. (4) Conclusions: A considerable prevalence of problematic Internet use was found; in our sample problematic Internet use was associated with stress, alcohol consumption, anxiety and perceived social support. Strategies aimed at the early identification of problematic Internet use may lead to an improvement in the psychosocial health of the university student population.