Prevalence of Depression and Suicidal Thoughts amongst University Students in Poznan, Poland, Preliminary Report

Ewa Mojs, Katarzyna Warchol-Biederman, Wlodzimierz Samborski

.
Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2012.32020                

Abstract

Objective: The goal of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of depression and suicidal thoughts in first year university students in Poznan, Poland and to assess whether they were connected with demographic factors such as age, having brothers or sisters, a specific social background or living arrangements, one’s major and the mode of the study program. Method: 210 freshmen, who were 18 - 28 years old (M = 19.81; SD = 1.18) anonymously answered a questionnaire on their perception of the risk of depression (KADS) and another demographics survey, including questions about age, having brothers/sisters, background, place of residence, living arrangements and their major (curriculum focus). Results: The analysis has shown that as many as 36 subjects (17.1%) were at risk of depression and 18 of them (8.6%) had suicidal thoughts. Among analyzed factors such as age, having brothers or sisters, social background, living arrangements, curriculum major and the mode of study, only the financial status was found to have a statistically significant influence on both susceptibility to depression and suicidal thoughts. Conclusion: It may be suggested that financial status most frequently influences depression in first year students but other agents leading to depression in students have not been clearly figured out or taken into account in screening tools for depression. So, further research is necessary to find out factors, which perhaps single-handedly or in connection with others, lead to or correlate with depression in college students.

Keywords

Depression; Suicide; Suicidal Thoughts; Student

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Beautrais, A. L. (2010). Risk factors for suicide and attempted suicide among young people. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 420-436. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.2000.00691.x
[2]	Cash, S. J., & Bridge, J. A. (2009). Epidemiology of youth suicide and suicidal behavior. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 21, 613-619. doi:10.1097/MOP.0b013e32833063e1
[3]	Szumilas, M., & Kutcher, S. P. (2008). Youth and suicide. CMAJ fact sheet. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 178, 286. doi:10.1503/cmaj.071559
[4]	Verona, E., & Javdani, S. (in press). Dimensions of adolescent psychopathology and relationships to suicide risk indicators. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
[5]	Polewka, A., Kroch, S., & Chrostek, M. J. (2004). Suicidal behavior and suicide attemptsin adolescents and young adults—Epidemiology, risk factors, prevention and treatment. Przegl Lek, 6, 261-264.
[6]	LeBlanc, J. C., Almudevar, A., Brooks, S. J., & Kutcher, S. (2002). Screening for adolescent depression: Comparison of the Kutcher adolescent depression scale with the beck depression inventory. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 12, 113-126. doi:10.1089/104454602760219153
[7]	Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., Ball, R., & Ranieri, W. (1996). Comparison of beck depression inventories-IA and -II in psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Personality Assessment, 67, 588-597. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa6703_13
[8]	Mikolajczyk, R. T., Maxwell, A. E., El Ansari, W., Naydenova, V., Stock, C., Ilieva, S., Dudziak, U., & Nagyova, I. (2008). Prevalence of depressive symptoms in university students from Germany, Denmark, Poland and Bulgaria. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43, 105-112. doi:10.1007/s00127-007-0282-0
[9]	Bostanci, M., Ozdel, O., Oguzhanoglu, N. K., Ozdel, L., Ergin, A., Ergin, N., Atesci, F., & Karadag, F. (2005). Depressive symptomatology among university students in Denizli, Turkey: Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates. Croatian Medical Journal, 46, 96-100.
[10]	Goodyer, I. M., Herbert, J., Tamplin, A., & Altham, P. M. E. (2000). First-episode major depression in adolescents: Affective, cognitive and endocrine characteristics of risk status and predictors of onset. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 176, 142-149. doi:10.1192/bjp.176.2.142
[11]	Ustun, T. B., & Kessler, R. C. (2002). Global burden of depressive disorders: The issue of duration. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 181, 181-183. doi:10.1192/bjp.181.3.181
[12]	Keller, M. C., Neale, M. C., & Kendler, K. S. (2007). Association of different adverse life events with distinct patterns of depressive symptoms. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 1521-1529. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.06091564
[13]	Fergusson, D. M., Boden, J. M. & Horwood, L. J. (2007). Recurrence of major depression in adolescence and early adulthood, and later mental health, educational and economic outcomes. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 335-342. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.107.036079
[14]	Tjia, J., Givens, J. L., & Shea, J. A. (2005). Factors associated with undertreatment of medical student depression. The Journal of American College Health, 53, 219-224. doi:10.3200/JACH.53.5.219-224
[15]	Mendelson, T., Kubzansky, L. D., Datta, G. D., & Buka, S. L. (2008). Relation of female gender and low socioeconomic status to internalizing symptoms among adolescents: A case of double jeopardy? Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1284-1296. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.11.033
[16]	Wardle, J., Steptoe, A., Gulis, G., Sartory, G., Sek, H., Todorova, I., Vogele, C., & Ziarko, M. (2004). Depression, perceived control, and life satisfaction in university students from Central-Eastern and Western Europe. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 11, 27-36. doi:10.1207/s15327558ijbm1101_4
[17]	Goodman, E., Huang, B., Wade, T. J., & Kahn, R. S. (2003). A multilevel analysis of the relation of socioeconomic status to adolescent depressive symptoms: Does school context matter? Journal of Pediatrics, 143, 451-456. doi:10.1067/S0022-3476(03)00456-6
[18]	Lorant, V., Deliege, D., Eaton, W., Robert, A., Philippot, P., & Ansseau, M. (2003). Socioeconomic inequalities in depression: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 157, 98-112. doi:10.1093/aje/kwf182
[19]	Jeong, Y., Kim, J. Y., Ryu, J. S., Lee, K. E., Ha, E. H., & Park, H. (2010). The Associations between social support, health-related behaviors, socioeconomic status and depression in medical students. Epidemiology and Health, 32, 1-8. doi:10.4178/epih/e2010009
[20]	Li, Y., & Sato, Y. (2008). Relationship between socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and mental health among university students of Heilongjiang province in China. School Health, 4, 9-15.
[21]	Lorant, V., Deliege, D., Eaton, W., Robert, A., Philippot, P., & Ansseau, M. (2003). Socioeconomic inequalities in depression: A metaanalysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 157, 98-112. doi:10.1093/aje/kwf182
[22]	Sahraian, A., & Javadpour, A. (2010). Sleep disruption and its correlation to psychological distress among medical students. Shiraz E Medical Journal, 11, 12-17.
[23]	Inam, S. N., Saqib, A., & Alam, E. (2003). Prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students of private university. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 53, 44-47.