Alcohol Use, Life Stress, and Depression among Chinese University Students

Abstract

Aim: This study explored the depressive symptoms among Chinese university students and further examined how alcohol use and life stress experiences may contribute to depression among a sample of 526 university students in China. Method: The self-report questionnaire contained items concerning demographic information, alcohol use, life stress experience, and depressive symptoms. Depression was measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D). Main findings: Analysis of the data showed that generally students who regularly drank alcohol reported higher scores in depression than nondrinkers’ scores and students who experienced life stress (i.e., academic difficulty) had highest scores for symptoms of depression. Students who self-reported a lower than average academic performance at school on average had higher depression scores. Both more frequent drinking behavior and higher life stress (academic difficulty and poor peer relationship) were significantly associated with higher indices of depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Results suggest a need for more attention to the relationships of these variables before introducing well-grounded educational interventions to reduce the likelihood of severe depression. It would be useful to carefully measure each of these variables and investigate other potential factors related to depression with the possibility that alcohol use and life stress are mediating variables.