Abstract
BackgroundResearch has consistently revealed a positive association between external locus of control and depression. Little, if any, research has investigated locus of control and depression in the sociocultural context of Botswana.AimTo explore the relationship between locus of control and depression among undergraduate students in Botswana and to determine the impact of age and gender on this relationship.SettingUniversity of Botswana.MethodsA sample of 272 students was surveyed through a self-administered questionnaire, which included the Levenson’s multidimensional locus of control scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II and demographic questions. Data analysis utilised descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, independent samples t-tests and standard multiple regression analysis.ResultsOf the 272 participants, 47.3% scored low (minimal) levels of depression, 23.4% scored mild levels, 18.0% scored moderate levels and 11.3% scored severe levels of depression. Students who believed that they were in control of events in their lives were less likely to present with depressive symptoms (r = -0.29, p = 0.000), while students who believed that chance (r = 0.45, p = 0.000) or powerful others (r = 0.40, p = 0.000) controlled their lives were more likely to have high depression scores. Both internal and external locus of control, together with age, explained 31% of the variance in depression scores; gender made no significant contribution to levels of depression.ConclusionThe study results draw attention to locus of control as one of the cognitive variables associated with depression. Further research is needed to determine how locus of control can be addressed in the treatment and prevention of depression in university contexts.
Highlights
Mental health problems among university students have been widely studied.[1]
Internal consistency reliability was low for the internal locus of control subscale (α = 0.44) but acceptable for the subscales measuring the ‘chance’ dimension (α = 0.69) and the ‘powerful others’ dimension of external locus of control (α = 0.70)
The results show that the correlation between internal locus of control and depression was negative though weak (r = -0.29, p = 0.000), while both external locus of control and external locus of control were positively associated with depression; the correlations were moderate (r = 0.45, p = 0.000; r = 0.40, p = 0.000)
Summary
Mental health problems among university students have been widely studied.[1] University life can be straining for students owing to potential stressors such as having to adjust to a new environment, being away from the familiarity and support of the parental home, having to live on a tight budget, having to complete assignments within limited time frames and/or having to cope with fluctuations in romantic relationships.[2] While for some students the challenges of university life might be an opportunity for personal growth, for others these challenges may prompt mental health problems such as depression.[3,4] Whether or not university life contributes to students developing depression will depend on various genetic, neurobiological and psycho-social factors,[5,6] but may be influenced by students’ beliefs that they have little or no control over events occurring in their lives. If any, research has investigated locus of control and depression in the sociocultural context of Botswana
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Schedule a callMore From: The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa
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