Life satisfaction and happiness associated with depressive symptoms among university students: a cross-sectional study in Korea

Abstract

BackgroundThis cross-sectional study investigated the impact of life satisfaction and happiness, as well as the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in a large sample of university students.MethodsWe included 2338 students at 6 universities in 1 metropolitan city and 2 provinces of Korea. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory, and scores of 16 or higher were categorized as the presence of depression. Various sociodemographic, life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical factors (alcohol consumption and sleep quality) were measured. According to the presence of depression, sociodemographic, life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical characteristics were compared using statistical analyses. Further, a logistic regression model was constructed to examine the impact of life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical factors on depression.ResultsAmong participants, 13.4% were identified as having depression. Life satisfaction and happiness were associated with a lower risk of depression, while hazardous alcohol drinking and poor sleep quality were related to a higher risk of depression. In addition, female gender, subjective body shape as obese, and insufficient pocket money were found to be significant correlates of depressive symptoms.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated possible risk and protective factors of underlying depressive symptoms. Especially, our findings suggest that improvement in life satisfaction and happiness would be important in the prevention and management of depression. Our findings may contribute to developing specialized mental health programs for prevention, screening, and treatment of depression among university students.

Satisfaction With Life, Mental Health Problems and Potential Alcohol-Related Problems Among Norwegian University Students

“…Similar results have also been found when mental health problems have been treated as the dependent variable. Seo et al ( 27 ) found in their study with South-Korean students, that both AUDIT-scores and rate of risky alcohol use (males: AUDIT ≥12, females: AUDIT ≥8) were higher in the depressed group, compared with the non-depressed group. In addition, Sæther et al ( 17 ) found that students who reported risky alcohol use (AUDIT 8-17) had slightly reduced life satisfaction and more mental health problems compared with the students who reported low risk alcohol use.…”

“…This association may be particularly relevant to investigate among students since they are in an age-period where high-prevalence mental disorders (depression, and anxiety) emerge ( 26 ). Former studies have typically found that increased levels of mental health problems lead to increased alcohol consumption ( 25 ) or reversed ( 27 ). A particular relevant study was done by Sæther et al ( 17 ), who used data from the Norwegian SHoT 2014 survey.…”

The Unprecedented Movement Control Order (Lockdown) and Factors Associated With the Negative Emotional Symptoms, Happiness, and Work-Life Balance of Malaysian University Students During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…Such a finding was also aligned in the path analysis, whereby we found evidence on the negative linear relationship between happiness with the three mental health constructs. Likewise, a large-scale cross-sectional study on 2,383 university students in Korea whereby happiness is associated with lower risk of depression symptoms ( 33 ). For decades, the field of clinical psychology has primarily focused on problems and deficits.…”

Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Satisfaction with Life: Moderating Role of Interpersonal Needs among University Students

“…Most of the research found that university students' satisfaction with life and have negative correlation with depression. Their ndings suggest that to improve the satisfaction with life is to focus on the effective intervention and manage depression issue among the university students [19,20].…”