Prevalence of depressive symptoms and its related factors among students at Tra Vinh University, Vietnam in 2018

Abstract

ObjectiveThe study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its related factors among students at Tra Vinh University, Vietnam.MethodsThe instrument used was a questionnaire of socioeconomic-demographic characteristics, educational characteristics, and the self-reported depression scale collected from the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) originally published by Radloff in 1977. Scores of 16–21 were considered as mild to moderate symptoms of depression, and scores above 21 were considered as symptoms of major depression. The Chi-square test was performed to compare prevalences.Results405 students (with 136 males and 269 females) aged 19 to 27 (the average age was 20.2) were interviewed. The mean score for the CES-D was 15.98, and the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was 52.3%, including the mild to moderate symptoms of depression (24.2%) and the major depression (20.7%). The prevalence occupied 72.2% among students in poor and near-poor households (aOR = 3.06, 95% CI = 1.38–6.76, p = 0.006). The prevalence also was higher among those who had been drinking alcohol (59.7% with aOR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.15–3.53, p = 0.014).). Depressive symptoms among first-year students were 39.9%, and 2nd-year students were 42.5% and tended to increase to 4th-year students (47.1%) with the p-value of 0.019.ConclusionThe overall prevalence of depression is relatively high among university students at Tra Vinh University, Vietnam. The prevalencesignificantly associates with characteristics such as household economics, behaviours and number of years studying at university. These results suggest that more attention should be directed to activities to reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms, especially among students in the final years.

Mental Health of University Students in Southeastern Asia: A Systematic Review

“…Of the 34 articles found, 27 studies [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][44][45][46][47][48]51,52,[55][56][57][58][59][60][61] were conducted in single nations, and 7 were 42,43,49,50,53,54,63 multinational studies. Most of the studies assessed depression, anxiety, and stress.…”

Self-Esteem and Depression Among Vietnamese University Students

“…Around the world, the prevalence of depression among college students ranged from 10% to 85% (Thi Hong Tuyen et al, 2019). In samples of Vietnamese university students, the prevalence of depression ranges from 51.6% (Quynh et al, 2020) to 52.3% (Thi Hong Tuyen et al, 2019). These data show that the prevalence of depression among Vietnamese university students is relatively high.…”

“…It is a common observation that individuals with lower self-esteem often report higher risk of depression (Klein et al, 2011;Lim & You, 2017;Orth & Robins, 2013). Around the world, the prevalence of depression among college students ranged from 10% to 85% (Thi Hong Tuyen et al, 2019). In samples of Vietnamese university students, the prevalence of depression ranges from 51.6% (Quynh et al, 2020) to 52.3% (Thi Hong Tuyen et al, 2019).…”

Fatores associados aos transtornos depressivos em estudantes universitários da área de saúde: uma revisão integrativa

“…Dentre os hábitos prejudiciais está o consumo de álcool. Dos estudos analisados, em seis deles (Santangelo, 2018;Flesch et al, 2020;Piumatti, 2018;Hambisa, 2020;Tuyen, 2019;Ruisoto et al, 2016), esse hábito está associado significativamente a um risco aumentado de sintomas depressivos que pode ser atribuído à mudança no estilo de vida dos estudantes. Além do consumo de álcool, o tabagismo está associado com a diminuição da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde dos estudantes universitários, resultando em níveis mais altos de sintomas depressivos (Milic et al, 2020).…”

“…Estrutura familiar, experiência negativa na infância e adolescência e fatores socioambientais na família de origem do aluno também se correlacionaram significativamente com a prevalência de depressão ao longo da vida (Li et al, 2015), bem como a economia familiar (Tuyen, 2019). Estudos demonstram que o conflito familiar é um dos fatores associados à depressão nos estudantes (Othman et al, 2019;Cheung et al, 2016;Leão et al, 2018).…”