Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District

Background: Mental health problems are becoming more and more frequently a burden on modern societies. A gradually evolving way of life, particularly in westernizing nations like India, could be attributed to a variety of causes, including shifting societal support, partnerships, and family bonding....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shalinder Kaur, Simmi Oberoi, Rohit Batish, Shyam Sunder Deepti, Mohan Lal, Balpreet Kaur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1336_24
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850036336562536448
author Shalinder Kaur
Simmi Oberoi
Rohit Batish
Shyam Sunder Deepti
Mohan Lal
Balpreet Kaur
author_facet Shalinder Kaur
Simmi Oberoi
Rohit Batish
Shyam Sunder Deepti
Mohan Lal
Balpreet Kaur
author_sort Shalinder Kaur
collection DOAJ
description Background: Mental health problems are becoming more and more frequently a burden on modern societies. A gradually evolving way of life, particularly in westernizing nations like India, could be attributed to a variety of causes, including shifting societal support, partnerships, and family bonding. Young People having conflicts with parents and friends, academic pressure and getting inconsistent sleep, and being in an environment where alcohol and drugs are more readily available could all be risk factors for depression. Objectives: 1. To determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among professional and non-professional course students. 2. To assess the factors associated with depressive symptoms in these students. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014 in Amritsar district among 1470 students of various educational institutes. After IEC approval, the study was carried out after obtaining written consent from students aged 18 to 24 years. They were interviewed using a pre-validated, semi-structured questionnaire that included Depression Factors Questionnaire, Socio-demographic section and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square tests. Results: Majority (82.9%) were from non-professional degree courses. Nearly half of the study population i.e. 761 (51.8%) belonged to Hindu religion. Depression was among the highest among overweight (25%) as compared to normal and underweight students. Depression was also observed to be higher among those respondents who became anxious on getting a new assignment (24.7%) as compared to those who could do the assignment on time (12.7%). Conclusion: Students who had good friends and satisfactory relationships with their parents and neighbors experienced lower levels of depression compared to those who did not.
format Article
id doaj-art-d601fdf983834e60825e65fba79cd7b5
institution DOAJ
issn 2249-4863
2278-7135
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
spelling doaj-art-d601fdf983834e60825e65fba79cd7b52025-08-20T02:57:12ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Family Medicine and Primary Care2249-48632278-71352025-04-011441245125110.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1336_24Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar DistrictShalinder KaurSimmi OberoiRohit BatishShyam Sunder DeeptiMohan LalBalpreet KaurBackground: Mental health problems are becoming more and more frequently a burden on modern societies. A gradually evolving way of life, particularly in westernizing nations like India, could be attributed to a variety of causes, including shifting societal support, partnerships, and family bonding. Young People having conflicts with parents and friends, academic pressure and getting inconsistent sleep, and being in an environment where alcohol and drugs are more readily available could all be risk factors for depression. Objectives: 1. To determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among professional and non-professional course students. 2. To assess the factors associated with depressive symptoms in these students. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014 in Amritsar district among 1470 students of various educational institutes. After IEC approval, the study was carried out after obtaining written consent from students aged 18 to 24 years. They were interviewed using a pre-validated, semi-structured questionnaire that included Depression Factors Questionnaire, Socio-demographic section and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square tests. Results: Majority (82.9%) were from non-professional degree courses. Nearly half of the study population i.e. 761 (51.8%) belonged to Hindu religion. Depression was among the highest among overweight (25%) as compared to normal and underweight students. Depression was also observed to be higher among those respondents who became anxious on getting a new assignment (24.7%) as compared to those who could do the assignment on time (12.7%). Conclusion: Students who had good friends and satisfactory relationships with their parents and neighbors experienced lower levels of depression compared to those who did not.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1336_24depressionmental healthpsychological conflictsyouth
spellingShingle Shalinder Kaur
Simmi Oberoi
Rohit Batish
Shyam Sunder Deepti
Mohan Lal
Balpreet Kaur
Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
depression
mental health
psychological conflicts
youth
title Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District
title_full Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District
title_fullStr Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District
title_full_unstemmed Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District
title_short Unveiling depression—A cross-sectional study of college students in Amritsar District
title_sort unveiling depression a cross sectional study of college students in amritsar district
topic depression
mental health
psychological conflicts
youth
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1336_24
work_keys_str_mv AT shalinderkaur unveilingdepressionacrosssectionalstudyofcollegestudentsinamritsardistrict
AT simmioberoi unveilingdepressionacrosssectionalstudyofcollegestudentsinamritsardistrict
AT rohitbatish unveilingdepressionacrosssectionalstudyofcollegestudentsinamritsardistrict
AT shyamsunderdeepti unveilingdepressionacrosssectionalstudyofcollegestudentsinamritsardistrict
AT mohanlal unveilingdepressionacrosssectionalstudyofcollegestudentsinamritsardistrict
AT balpreetkaur unveilingdepressionacrosssectionalstudyofcollegestudentsinamritsardistrict