Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Association of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Among University Students

Abstract

Prevalence of Stress, anxiety and depression has been identified to be high among university students which may affect their social and professional lives. The study aims at assessing the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression among university students and analyzes their association with gender, ethnicity and area of upbringing. The study also intends to identify their coping strategies. This was a cross sectional study utilizing validated questionnaires. It was conducted among a total of 143 university students in Johar bahru. The questionnaires used were the socio-demographic questionnaire, DAAS-21 questionnaire and Brief coping strategy Questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics was used. The mean age of the students under the study was 25.02±8.6 years. Depression was seen in 62.2% of the students and anxiety and stress were seen in 78.3% and 55.9 % students respectively. Depression, anxiety and stress were found more in females than males. Anxiety was more in Malays and depression and stress was more among other ethnic groups. Anxiety and depression were seen more in students with a rural upbringing and stress in students with a urban upbringing. There was no significant association between depression, anxiety, stress and gender, ethnicity and area of upbringing. The mean score for the common coping strategies employed which was acceptance, positive reframing and self distraction were 2.8±0.9, 2.8±1.0, 2.8±1.0 respectively. Prevalence of anxiety was more compared to stress or depression. Students used active coping Strategies to cope with stress.

Association between Leptin (G2548A) and Leptin Receptor (Q223R) Polymorphisms with Plasma Leptin, BMI, Stress, Sleep and Eating Patterns among the Multiethnic Young Malaysian Adult Population from a Healthcare University

“…DASS 21 Questionnaire: Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (abbreviated as DASS 21) is a 21 self-administered questionnaire rated on a four-point Likert scale measuring the frequency of participants’ experiences over the last week’s duration. This scale was developed by Lovibond et al [ 50 ] and the validation and reliability of this instrument has been established by various researchers [ 51 , 52 ] and has been commonly used to grade the severity of symptoms of anxiety and depression in both clinical and academic settings. [ 51 , 53 ].…”

“…This scale was developed by Lovibond et al [ 50 ] and the validation and reliability of this instrument has been established by various researchers [ 51 , 52 ] and has been commonly used to grade the severity of symptoms of anxiety and depression in both clinical and academic settings. [ 51 , 53 ]. As stated by the content creator, the use of this questionnaire is permissible for all academic purposes.…”

Healthcare students’ mental and physical well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown and distance learning

“…Psychological distress like depression, anxiety, and stress were also statistically linked with poor levels of HRQoL among healthcare students [7,8,[10][11][12]. These challenges are commonly reported in the literature among healthcare students and to a higher extent among females [1,2,8,13,14]. Previous studies have reported that healthcare students in Jordan have poor lifestyle habits and challenging levels of musculoskeletal, mental health stressors and low levels of HRQoL [15,16].…”

“…Healthcare students are a very important student subgroup that might face unique kinds of stressors related to their academic and clinical activities, financial responsibilities, and social commitments. These stressors might hinder healthcare students' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and academic progress [5][6][7][8][9]. Psychological distress like depression, anxiety, and stress were also statistically linked with poor levels of HRQoL among healthcare students [7,8,[10][11][12].…”

“…These stressors might hinder healthcare students' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and academic progress [5][6][7][8][9]. Psychological distress like depression, anxiety, and stress were also statistically linked with poor levels of HRQoL among healthcare students [7,8,[10][11][12]. These challenges are commonly reported in the literature among healthcare students and to a higher extent among females [1,2,8,13,14].…”