Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life

Background: Information about the anxiety and depression of students in rural areas of India is scant. We evaluated stress, coping strategies, quality of life (QOL), and well-being of students along with the dimensional and categorical distribution of anxiety and depression in a cross-sectional stud...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nilamadhab Kar, Mithila Das, Brajaballav Kar, Namita Rath, Shreyan Kar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2024-11-01
Series:Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_140_23
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850169001810853888
author Nilamadhab Kar
Mithila Das
Brajaballav Kar
Namita Rath
Shreyan Kar
author_facet Nilamadhab Kar
Mithila Das
Brajaballav Kar
Namita Rath
Shreyan Kar
author_sort Nilamadhab Kar
collection DOAJ
description Background: Information about the anxiety and depression of students in rural areas of India is scant. We evaluated stress, coping strategies, quality of life (QOL), and well-being of students along with the dimensional and categorical distribution of anxiety and depression in a cross-sectional study in a rural college. Materials and Methods: It was an online questionnaire-based survey using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression, general anxiety disorder-7 for anxiety, and the WHO-5 Well-Being scale for well-being. Stress in the previous month, nature of stress, coping strategies, and QOL on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) were also assessed. Results: The dimensional distribution of anxiety and depression suggested the pervasiveness of these problems among students. Categorically, a considerable proportion of students had clinical levels of anxiety (32.2%), depression (40.3%); and 24.8% of students had both of them. Stress in the past month was reported by 34.2% of students, which was linked significantly with the severity of anxiety and depression. Common stressor were financial problems, family-, career-, and job-related issues. Stress, anxiety, and depression were negatively correlated with well-being and QOL. Many coping strategies were reported; more than half of the students found helping others, creative hobbies, hoping for the best, music, talking to others, yoga and exercises, prayer, and religious activities helpful. Conclusions: The results highlight the pervasive presence of anxiety and depression in college students, which are linked to stress, and have an impact on their well-being and QOL. These require specific attention for management.
format Article
id doaj-art-bd1144f335074b8faedc55d02cc96ca7
institution OA Journals
issn 0971-9962
2454-8316
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry
spelling doaj-art-bd1144f335074b8faedc55d02cc96ca72025-08-20T02:20:51ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Social Psychiatry0971-99622454-83162024-11-0140441141710.4103/ijsp.ijsp_140_23Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of LifeNilamadhab KarMithila DasBrajaballav KarNamita RathShreyan KarBackground: Information about the anxiety and depression of students in rural areas of India is scant. We evaluated stress, coping strategies, quality of life (QOL), and well-being of students along with the dimensional and categorical distribution of anxiety and depression in a cross-sectional study in a rural college. Materials and Methods: It was an online questionnaire-based survey using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression, general anxiety disorder-7 for anxiety, and the WHO-5 Well-Being scale for well-being. Stress in the previous month, nature of stress, coping strategies, and QOL on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) were also assessed. Results: The dimensional distribution of anxiety and depression suggested the pervasiveness of these problems among students. Categorically, a considerable proportion of students had clinical levels of anxiety (32.2%), depression (40.3%); and 24.8% of students had both of them. Stress in the past month was reported by 34.2% of students, which was linked significantly with the severity of anxiety and depression. Common stressor were financial problems, family-, career-, and job-related issues. Stress, anxiety, and depression were negatively correlated with well-being and QOL. Many coping strategies were reported; more than half of the students found helping others, creative hobbies, hoping for the best, music, talking to others, yoga and exercises, prayer, and religious activities helpful. Conclusions: The results highlight the pervasive presence of anxiety and depression in college students, which are linked to stress, and have an impact on their well-being and QOL. These require specific attention for management.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_140_23anxietycollege studentcopingdepressionpsychological stressrural environment
spellingShingle Nilamadhab Kar
Mithila Das
Brajaballav Kar
Namita Rath
Shreyan Kar
Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life
Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry
anxiety
college student
coping
depression
psychological stress
rural environment
title Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life
title_full Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life
title_fullStr Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life
title_full_unstemmed Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life
title_short Dimensional Distribution of Anxiety and Depression in College Students in a Rural Setting: Relationship with Stress, Well-being, and Quality of Life
title_sort dimensional distribution of anxiety and depression in college students in a rural setting relationship with stress well being and quality of life
topic anxiety
college student
coping
depression
psychological stress
rural environment
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_140_23
work_keys_str_mv AT nilamadhabkar dimensionaldistributionofanxietyanddepressionincollegestudentsinaruralsettingrelationshipwithstresswellbeingandqualityoflife
AT mithiladas dimensionaldistributionofanxietyanddepressionincollegestudentsinaruralsettingrelationshipwithstresswellbeingandqualityoflife
AT brajaballavkar dimensionaldistributionofanxietyanddepressionincollegestudentsinaruralsettingrelationshipwithstresswellbeingandqualityoflife
AT namitarath dimensionaldistributionofanxietyanddepressionincollegestudentsinaruralsettingrelationshipwithstresswellbeingandqualityoflife
AT shreyankar dimensionaldistributionofanxietyanddepressionincollegestudentsinaruralsettingrelationshipwithstresswellbeingandqualityoflife