Psychometric study of depression, anxiety and stress among university students

Abstract

Depression, anxiety and stress are phenomena observed across world, especially in developing countries. This research explores a relationship between depression, anxiety, and stress, and socio-demographic characteristics of university students. For this purpose, depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS–21) was used for data collection along with socio-demographic variables. The data were collected from 361 students of various academic disciplines and degree programs through self-reported questionnaire. The findings reveal that male students had more depression, stress, and anxiety in comparison to female students. There were no significant differences in depression, anxiety and stress on the basis of family type. In addition, there was significant difference in the perception of depression, anxiety, and stress on the basis of their residential status and parents’ education. This study concludes that male students were more depressed, stressed and anxious as compared to female students. Furthermore, symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were the same among students with nuclear and joint family living systems. Parental education was associated with students’ depression, anxiety and stress. Students with educated parents had fewer symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression.