What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities
Abstract Background Mental health problems have been shown to be highly prevalent among university students with symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety exerting a substantial negative impact. Factors such as gender and social support have been considered important factors for mental and self-rat...
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BMC
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23362-3 |
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| author | Mira Tschorn Kristin Koller-Schlaud Darlene Heinen Sarah Jane Böttger Julia Seiffert Veronika Esipova Timm Seegert Amanda Sophie Voss Bernd Förstner Michael Rapp Jan C. Zoellick |
| author_facet | Mira Tschorn Kristin Koller-Schlaud Darlene Heinen Sarah Jane Böttger Julia Seiffert Veronika Esipova Timm Seegert Amanda Sophie Voss Bernd Förstner Michael Rapp Jan C. Zoellick |
| author_sort | Mira Tschorn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Mental health problems have been shown to be highly prevalent among university students with symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety exerting a substantial negative impact. Factors such as gender and social support have been considered important factors for mental and self-rated health. The present study aims to report on the mental and self-rated health of students at two universities within the Berlin-Potsdam metropolitan area (Germany) and to investigate potential associations between social support, self-rated health and depressive symptoms in these two samples. Methods Students from two universities and different faculties participated in an online-survey reporting on their self-rated health, depressive symptoms and social support. To analyse differences between the two samples we conducted chi square tests for categorical variables, t-tests for continuous variables and Mann-Whitney U tests for non-normally distributed continuous variables. We employed multivariate linear regression models for the two samples separately to investigate the association of the two health indicators with social support while accounting for relationship status, living situation (living alone yes/no) and gender. Results 31% of students (27–36% in the two samples) reported depressive symptoms above the clinically relevant threshold. Increased depressive symptoms (β=-0.317, p <.001; β=-0.326, p <.001) and lower overall health (β = 0.222, p =.003; β = 0.176, p =.008) were associated with fewer social support in both samples. Female gender was associated with higher depressive symptoms (β = 0.207, p <.001) and lower overall health (β=-0.231, p <.001) in only one of the samples, while gender did not have a significant effect in the other sample. Relationship status and living situation were not found to have a significant effect. Conclusions With roughly a third of students reporting depressive symptoms at both study sites, our data supports the notion that mental health difficulties are a critically relevant topic in the university context. The association of social support with depressive symptoms and overall health in both samples with evidence for gender-specific effects underline the importance of considering social and gender aspects when understanding university student mental health in this particular phase. Our findings contribute to the understanding of relevant factors with the potential to positively impact university students’ mental health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-34241009f9dd4e6b9b6243b67d0f4546 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-34241009f9dd4e6b9b6243b67d0f45462025-08-20T03:45:39ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582025-07-0125111110.1186/s12889-025-23362-3What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universitiesMira Tschorn0Kristin Koller-Schlaud1Darlene Heinen2Sarah Jane Böttger3Julia Seiffert4Veronika Esipova5Timm Seegert6Amanda Sophie Voss7Bernd Förstner8Michael Rapp9Jan C. Zoellick10Social and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Ruppin-Brandenburg, Brandenburg Medical SchoolSocial and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamSocial and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamAcademic Sports Center, Student Health Management, University of PotsdamSocial and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamSocial and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamInstitut und Poliklinik für Arbeits-, Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergSocial and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamSocial and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of PotsdamGerman Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Berlin/PotsdamAbstract Background Mental health problems have been shown to be highly prevalent among university students with symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety exerting a substantial negative impact. Factors such as gender and social support have been considered important factors for mental and self-rated health. The present study aims to report on the mental and self-rated health of students at two universities within the Berlin-Potsdam metropolitan area (Germany) and to investigate potential associations between social support, self-rated health and depressive symptoms in these two samples. Methods Students from two universities and different faculties participated in an online-survey reporting on their self-rated health, depressive symptoms and social support. To analyse differences between the two samples we conducted chi square tests for categorical variables, t-tests for continuous variables and Mann-Whitney U tests for non-normally distributed continuous variables. We employed multivariate linear regression models for the two samples separately to investigate the association of the two health indicators with social support while accounting for relationship status, living situation (living alone yes/no) and gender. Results 31% of students (27–36% in the two samples) reported depressive symptoms above the clinically relevant threshold. Increased depressive symptoms (β=-0.317, p <.001; β=-0.326, p <.001) and lower overall health (β = 0.222, p =.003; β = 0.176, p =.008) were associated with fewer social support in both samples. Female gender was associated with higher depressive symptoms (β = 0.207, p <.001) and lower overall health (β=-0.231, p <.001) in only one of the samples, while gender did not have a significant effect in the other sample. Relationship status and living situation were not found to have a significant effect. Conclusions With roughly a third of students reporting depressive symptoms at both study sites, our data supports the notion that mental health difficulties are a critically relevant topic in the university context. The association of social support with depressive symptoms and overall health in both samples with evidence for gender-specific effects underline the importance of considering social and gender aspects when understanding university student mental health in this particular phase. Our findings contribute to the understanding of relevant factors with the potential to positively impact university students’ mental health.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23362-3Self-rated healthMental healthDepressive symptomsSocial supportUniversity students |
| spellingShingle | Mira Tschorn Kristin Koller-Schlaud Darlene Heinen Sarah Jane Böttger Julia Seiffert Veronika Esipova Timm Seegert Amanda Sophie Voss Bernd Förstner Michael Rapp Jan C. Zoellick What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities BMC Public Health Self-rated health Mental health Depressive symptoms Social support University students |
| title | What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities |
| title_full | What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities |
| title_fullStr | What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities |
| title_full_unstemmed | What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities |
| title_short | What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities |
| title_sort | what is the impact of social support on self rated health and depressive symptoms in university students a survey study in two german universities |
| topic | Self-rated health Mental health Depressive symptoms Social support University students |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23362-3 |
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