Depression In College Students Research Articles

Associations Between Physical Activity, Depressive, and Anxiety Symptoms in Brazilian University Students

ABSTRACT Background Physical activity (PA) has been associated with decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population, but more consistent evidence is needed in the university population. Purpose Investigate the association between physical activity and depressive and anxiety symptoms in undergraduates. Methods 100 university students (23 ± 4 years, 47% female) were included in this cross-sectional study. We performed multiple linear regression analyses to investigate the association between the main variables. Results The physical activity (MET/min/week) had a significant association with depressive (F(2, 97) = 15.104, p < .001; adjusted R2 = .222) and anxiety symptoms (F(2, 97) = 11.853 p < .001; adjusted R2 = .180), explaining these outcomes in approximately 22% and 18%, respectively. Moderate or vigorous physical activity did not have an association with depressive (B = −0.10, t = −0.700, p = .486) or anxiety symptoms (B = −0.11, t = 0.725, p = .470). Discussion Individuals with high levels of physical activity have lower depressive and anxiety symptoms than individuals with lower levels of PA. Translation to Health Education Practice Increasing the level of physical activity may be a viable strategy to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in university students.

SCREENING OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS IN MEDICAL STUDENTS

The aim of the research was to study the frequency of occurrence of anxiety and depression in first-year medical university students in the post-holiday period.Materials and methods. The study involved 70 first-year medical university students (average age 17,9 ± 1,31 years). The study was conducted as part of a periodic medical examination of participants during the first semester (in the early post-holiday period). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used.Results. The analysis of the answers to the questions of the HADS anxiety subscale showed that more than a third of the survey participants (38,6%) had anxiety disorders, of which more than half of the participants (51,9%) needed the advice of a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist. 21,4% of participants had a feeling of tension, 27,2% - fear, 24,3% - restless thoughts, 17,1% - inability to relax, 22,8% - internal tension or trembling, 40% - restlessness, 31,4% - panic. Analysis of answers to questions on the HADS depression subscale indicated that 22,9% of students had depressive disorders, of which more than a third (37,5%) needed the advice of a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist. 27,1% of participants had a decrease/lack of pleasure from something that used to bring positive emotions, 10% - inability to laugh, 15,7% - lack of a sense of cheerfulness, 20% - slowness, 15,7% - unwillingness to monitor their appearance, 18,6% - decreased sense of satisfaction from hobbies, 20% - decreased feelings of pleasure from a good book, radio or TV program.Conclusion. The expansion of the standard scope of periodic medical examination made it possible to screen the psycho-emotional state of students in the post-holiday period of the autumn semester and identify a risk group for the development and increase of existing anxiety-depressive disorders during the educational process, which can have an adverse effect on both the quality of life of students and the effectiveness and success of training.

Procrastination, depression and anxiety symptoms in university students: a three-wave longitudinal study on the mediating role of perceived stress

BackgroundIt is generally assumed that procrastination leads to negative consequences. However, evidence for negative consequences of procrastination is still limited and it is also unclear by which mechanisms they are mediated. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the harmful consequences of procrastination on students’ stress and mental health. We selected the procrastination-health model as our theoretical foundation and tried to evaluate the model’s assumption that trait procrastination leads to (chronic) disease via (chronic) stress in a temporal perspective. We chose depression and anxiety symptoms as indicators for (chronic) disease and hypothesized that procrastination leads to perceived stress over time, that perceived stress leads to depression and anxiety symptoms over time, and that procrastination leads to depression and anxiety symptoms over time, mediated by perceived stress.MethodsTo examine these relationships properly, we collected longitudinal data from 392 university students at three occasions over a one-year period and analyzed the data using autoregressive time-lagged panel models.ResultsProcrastination did lead to depression and anxiety symptoms over time. However, perceived stress was not a mediator of this effect. Procrastination did not lead to perceived stress over time, nor did perceived stress lead to depression and anxiety symptoms over time.ConclusionsWe could not confirm that trait procrastination leads to (chronic) disease via (chronic) stress, as assumed in the procrastination-health model. Nonetheless, our study demonstrated that procrastination can have a detrimental effect on mental health. Further health outcomes and possible mediators should be explored in future studies.

대학생의 애착불안, 부정정서 회피를 위한 SNS 사용, COVID-19로 인한 지각된 스트레스가 우울에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study is to test the mediating effect of perceived stress due to COVID-19, using social media to avoid negative emotions in the process of influencing depression of college students' attachment anxiety. Methods To this end, data from 279 male and female college students in Korea were collected through an online survey from October 15 to October 25, 2020, SPSS 20.0 was used for technical statistics and correlation analysis, and Mplus 7.0 program was used for structural model and mediating effect verification. Results The main results of this study are as follows. First, the attachment anxiety of college students showed a significant positive correlation with the use of social media to avoid negative emotions, perceived stress and de-pression caused by COVID-19. Second, the mediating effect of using social media to avoid negative emotions was confirmed in the relationship between attachment anxiety and depression. Third, the mediating effect of per-ceived stress due to COVID-19 was confirmed in the relationship between attachment anxiety and depression. Finally, it was found that the double mediating effect of social media use to avoid perceived stress and negative emotions caused by COVID-19 was significant in the effect of attachment anxiety of college students on depression. Conclusions Taken together, it was found that college students with attachment anxiety perceived stress caused by COVID-19 higher. In addition, they used social media as a way to avoid negative emotions, which affected depression. This study is meaningful in that it revealed the link between social media use and depression among young people and the psychological mechanism that affects depression among college students in the COVID-19 situation in a situation where face-to-face activities have been reduced and non-face-to-face interpersonal rela-tionships have been recommended.

대학생의 우울과 자존감의 관계에서 자기격려-낙담의 병렬다중매개효과

Objectives The purpose of this study was to verify the parallel multiple mediating effects of cognitive-emo-tion-behavior, which were sub-factors of self-encouragement and self-discouragement, in the relationship be-tween depression and self-esteem in college students. Methods A survey was conducted on college students who voluntarily participated online, and all surveys were set as mandatory responses so that there was no unanswered response. The collected data were subjected to re-liability analysis, descriptive statistics of variables, and correlation analysis using the SPSS 26.0 statistical pro-gram, and the parallel multiple mediation model was verified using PROCESS Macro Model 4. Results First, college students' depression was negatively correlated with self-esteem and self-encouragement, and positively correlated with self-discouragement, and self-esteem was positively correlated with self-encour-agement and negatively correlated with self-discouragement. Second, in the relationship between depression and self-esteem in college students, the mediating effect of self-encouragement-cognition and self-encour-agement-emotion was significant, while the mediating effect of self-encouragement-behavior was not significant. The explanatory power of the model was 43.7%. Third, in the relationship between depression and self-esteem in college students, the mediating effects of self-discouragement-cognition and self-discourage-ment-behavior were significant, while the mediation effect of self-discouragement-emotion was not significant. The explanatory power of the model was 66.1%. Conclusions Through the results of this study, we confirmed the importance of cognition in improving self-es-teem and preventing decline in self-esteem in depressed college students, and confirmed that the factors that need to be intervened in self-encouragement and self-discouragement are different. In addition, rather than fo-cusing on self-encouragement, it was verified that there was a need to help prevent depressive symptoms from accelerating due to a decline in self-esteem. This study is significant in that it provided empirical evidence for con-structing an intervention program to improve the self-esteem of depressed college students.

ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS USAGE BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF MEDICAL GROUP IN BASRA, IRAQ

Background: Psychological disease is strongly prevalent among college and university students worldwide with negative impacts on students’ life. Specifically, medical group students have long time of study with suffer from competitive ambience and sleep privation, that lead to out of the way from perfect learning environment. When medical students are abused psychotropic drugs that lead to defect on performance, health, life style and interpose with their concentration. Aim: to investigate the prevalence rate of depression and anxiety in university students of medical group in Basra, and estimate the rate and type of psychotropic drugs consumption by them. Method: The study data was collected from 376 students of medical group at College of Medicine, College of Dentistry and College of Pharmacy of Basra University by questionnaire forma. Results: The prevalence rate of mental disorders was low about and many factors that affected on psychiatric state of them like gender, age, Family and friends Relation, missing one of parents etc. Among medical group students that used sedatives and hypnotics about (46%) than other psychotropic drugs like serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRIs) (42.9%) tricyclic antidepressants (21.4%), and atypical antipsychotic (7.1%). Conclusions: Medical group students are more likely to consumption antipsychotic drugs by physician prescription or self-medications. Therefore, there are required more interesting and pursuits for college students especially medical college students for amelioration their college and social lives. Peer Review History: Received 6 February 2024; Revised 15 March 2024; Accepted 26 April; Available online 15 May 2024 Academic Editor: Dr. Asia Selman Abdullah, Pharmacy institute, University of Basrah, Iraq, asia_abdullah65@yahoo.com Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10 Reviewers: Dr. A.A. Mgbahurike, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, amaka_mgbahurike@yahoo.com Prof. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, shmahe@yemen.net.ye

Sympathetic arousal among depressed college students: Examining the interplay between psychopathology and social activity.

Depressed individuals exhibit altered sensitivity to both positive and negative social contact, and may not reap the same psychological and emotional benefits to socializing as non-depressed individuals. Although depressive symptoms and loneliness predict social withdrawal and decreased pleasure, little is currently understood about immediate affective arousal dynamics during real-time socializing. Using a novel ambulatory protocol that tracked both objective features of affective arousal (electrodermal activity) and subjective valence (self-reported) during college students' social interactions, we evaluated the moderating role of depression and loneliness symptoms on the associations between socializing with others (specifically, with a romantic partner, a close friend, or a group of friends) and the arousal and valence dimensions of affect. Among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 118 college students (64% African American/Black/Continental African, 20% Latinx, 8% Asian, and 8% White) recruited from a large, predominantly White Midwestern university, those lower in depression and loneliness symptomatology evinced decreased average arousal (Β = -0.10, SE = 0.04, p < .01) when in relaxed and intimate socializing contexts (e.g., with a romantic partner and a close friend), consistent with the idea that these contexts facilitate important opportunities for psychological rest and recovery. Those lower in depression and loneliness symptoms also showed higher average arousal when socializing in the energizing context of being with a group of friends. Overall, the results suggest psychopathology is reflected in patterns of sympathetic arousal when socializing, with more depressed and lonely individuals generally feeling worse while receiving fewer psychophysiological rewards in multiple socializing contexts.

THE EFFECT OF SELF-COMPASSION ON DEPRESSION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN YOGYAKARTA

The phenomenon of low mental health among Indonesian university students is of concern to experts, professionals, and the public. The high prevalence of depression around university students is an indication of this. The present study aims to determine the effect of self-compassion on depression among university students in Special Region of Yogyakarta. The study involved 280 individuals who were registered as active students at universities in Yogyakarta. The Self-Compassion Scale and the DASS-42 depression subscale were employed as the measurements. The data analysis techniques used were product moment and regression analysis. The objective of product moment is to discover how self-compassion affects depression in university students. Regression analysis is used to analyze the respective contributions of each component of self-compassion to depression in university students. The proposed hypothesis is that there is influence self-compassion towards students’ depression and the contribution of each aspect of self-compassion to students’ depression.

Examining processes of change for acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy self-help books with depressed college students

ABSTRACT Given the prevalence of depression, it is worthwhile to consider a variety of treatment approaches to reach as many sufferers as possible, including highly accessible formats such as self-help books. Books based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) propose to treat depression through distinct processes of change, though the degree to which these treatments are distinguishable in this format is unclear. Furthermore, it is possible that some individuals may respond better to therapeutic processes from one approach over the other based on personal preferences. We tested the effects of ACT and CBT self-help books on processes of change in a sample of 139 depressed college students in which some participants were given a choice of treatment and others were randomized. Cognitive fusion, which improved better in the ACT group, was the only process of change that distinguished the two treatments. Additionally, early improvements in cognitive fusion were associated with less depression-related stigma at posttreatment. Lastly, randomization, instead of choosing a treatment, led to greater improvements in almost all processes of change. We discuss how these findings inform personalized care, tangible differences between ACT and CBT, and effective practices for treating depression at large scale.

The relationship between physical activity and depression in college students: the chain mediating role of mindfulness and meaning in life

AbstractIn order to explore the chain mediating effect of mindfulness and meaning in life between physical exercise and depression, 954 college students were investigated by physical exercise rating scale, self-rating depression questionnaire, mindfulness scale and meaning in life questionnaire. The results show that: (1) Physical exercise can significantly positively predict mindfulness and meaning in life, and significantly negatively predict depression; (2) The direct effect of physical exercise on depression of college students is not significant, but the indirect effect is significant. It can significantly predict depression of college students through the independent mediating effect of mindfulness and meaning in life, and can also significantly predict depression of college students through the chain mediating effect of mindfulness and meaning in life.

Prospective study of the association between chronotypes and depressive symptoms in Chinese university students: Moderating effects of PER1 gene DNA methylation

ABSTRACT Most studies have shown a link between chronotypes and mental health and have identified evening chronotypes (E-types) as a potential risk for depressive symptoms. However, the mechanisms behind this association remain unknown. Abnormal expression of the PER1 gene was not only associated with circadian rhythm disturbance, but also closely related to mental illness. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association of chronotype with depressive symptoms, and further explore the moderating effects of the PER1 gene DNA methylation on chronotypes and depressive symptoms in Chinese university students. In a stratified cluster sampling design, chronotype and depressive symptoms were assessed in 1 042 university students from 2 universities in a two-year prospective survey from April 2019 to October 2020. The survey was conducted once every 6 months, corresponding to the time points in April 2019 (T0), October 2019 (T1), April 2020 (T2), and October 2020 (T3). At T0, the Morning and Evening Questionnaire 5 (MEQ-5) was adopted to assess chronotype. At T0-T3, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) was adopted to investigate depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, at T0, participants were subjected to a health check-up trip in the hospital, and blood samples were taken from the students to measure the PER1 gene DNA methylation levels. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the association of chronotypes with depressive symptoms. The depression/total depression group was coded as 1, while the remaining participants was defined as one group, and was coded as 0. The PROCESS plug-in of SPSS software was used to analyze the moderating effects of PER1 gene DNA methylation on the association of chronotype with depressive symptoms. After adjusting for covariates, the results indicated that T0 E-types were positively correlated with T0-T3 depression/total depression in female university students. Furthermore, the PER1 gene DNA methylation has negative moderating effects between T0 chronotype and T3 depressive symptoms and has a sex difference. This study can provide more favorable scientific value for the prevention and control of depression in university students.

Moderated moderation modelling of subjective social status, pocket money and depressive symptoms of university students in Ghana.

Although the relationship between subjective social status and depression in university students has been well-established, this association could be seen as a spurious one. Previous studies have shown that key variables like financial resources and age could play key roles in explaining the variances in social status and mental health outcomes. In this research, we assessed the complex interrelationships between subjective social status, financial resources at their disposal and depressive symptoms among university students within their young and middle adulthood stages. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a university in Ghana to sample 1134 university students through accidental sampling. The McArthur Scale and WHO-5 Well-being measure were used for the data collection. The results revealed that higher levels of subjective social status were associated with lower levels of depression. It was further found that the interaction between students' pocket money and age played unique roles in the relationship between subjective social status and depression. The study findings call on stakeholders in education to explore funding opportunities and to examine ways of empowering parents (financially) to adequately support the students. Health educationists and promoters, including psychologists, school counsellors and parents could compliment these efforts by helping to train and empower students through self-regulation or management skills to help improve their well-being. Continuous efforts are required to improve the financial status and mental health of students.

Predicting anxiety, depression, and insomnia among Bangladeshi university students using tree-based machine learning models.

Mental health problem is a rising public health concern. People of all ages, specially Bangladeshi university students, are more affected by this burden. Thus, the objective of the study was to use tree-based machine learning (ML) models to identify major risk factors and predict anxiety, depression, and insomnia in university students. A social media-based cross-sectional survey was employed for data collection. We used Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI-7) scale for measuring students' anxiety, depression and insomnia problems. The tree-based supervised decision tree (DT), random forest (RF) and robust eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) ML algorithms were used to build the prediction models and their predictive performance was evaluated using confusion matrix and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Of the 1250 students surveyed, 64.7% were male and 35.3% were female. The students' ages ranged from 18 to 26 years old, with an average age of 22.24 years (SD = 1.30). Majority of the students (72.6%) were from rural areas and social media addicted (56.6%). Almost 83.3% of the students had moderate to severe anxiety, 84.7% had moderate to severe depression and 76.5% had moderate to severe insomnia problems. Students' social media addiction, age, academic performance, smoking status, monthly family income and morningness-eveningness are the main risk factors of anxiety, depression and insomnia. The highest predictive performance was observed from the XGBoost model for anxiety, depression and insomnia. The study findings offer valuable insights for stakeholders, families and policymakers enabling a more profound comprehension of the pressing mental health disorders. This understanding can guide the formulation of improved policy strategies, initiatives for mental health promotion, and the development of effective counseling services within university campus. Additionally, our proposed model might play a critical role in diagnosing and predicting mental health problems among Bangladeshi university students and similar settings.

Factors Affecting Depression in College Students who were Confirmed with COVID-19

Purpose: This study aimed to confirm the prevalence of depression among college students as a result of the aftereffects of COVID-19, and to examine the influence of interpersonal competence, positive psychological capital, resilience, and family support on depression.Methods: A survey was conducted involving 238 college students aged 20 or older who had tested positive for COVID-19. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed using the SPSS/WIN 27.0 Program, and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.Results: Among the students diagnosed with COVID-19 in this study, those who received an allowance (OR=1.23, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;=.035), engaged in alcohol consumption (OR=1.84, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;=.027), and played online games (OR=2.17, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;&lt;.001) were found to have higher levels of depression as a result of the aftereffects of COVID-19. Additionally, a lack of interpersonal competence (OR=2.12, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;&lt;.001), positive psychological capital (OR=2.43, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;=.037), and family support (OR=1.56, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;=.038) had a greater impact on depression among students experiencing the aftereffects of COVID-19.Conclusion: Active interest and intervention from colleges and relevant organizations are necessary to address the various challenges faced by college students in the aftermath of COVID-19, and to meet their diverse needs in stressful situations.

Examining Mental Health Benefits of a Brief Online Mindfulness Intervention: A Randomised Controlled Trial

ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a brief online mindfulness intervention in reducing depression, rumination, and trait anxiety among university students.MethodThe sample consisted of 486 participants including 205 (42%) in the experimental group and 281 (58%) in the control group. For a period of 28 days, participants in the experimental group engaged in daily mindfulness meditation during their free time. Additionally, they practised mindfulness meditation once a week during regular class hours. The control group was involved in regular class activities without practising mindfulness. The outcomes were assessed at pre- and post-intervention using well-validated measures of mindfulness, depression, rumination, and trait anxiety. The data were analysed using mixed-model ANCOVA while controlling for baseline mindfulness levels as co-variates.ResultsOur results demonstrated the effectiveness of a brief online mindfulness intervention in reducing depression, rumination, and trait anxiety of university students. Moreover, higher baseline mindfulness levels predicted better effectiveness of the brief online mindfulness intervention at an individual level and were inversely linked to depression, trait anxiety, and rumination.ConclusionsThis study conclusively demonstrated that a brief online mindfulness intervention significantly reduces depression, rumination, and trait anxiety among university students, with reductions observed in specific measures of these conditions, highlighting the role of initial mindfulness levels in moderating outcomes. These findings underscore the effectiveness of brief online mindfulness programs in mitigating mental health issues in a university setting and the importance of baseline psychological states in intervention outcomes.PreregistrationThis study is not preregistered

The relationship between self-consciousness and depression in college students: the chain mediating effect of meaning life and self-efficacy, with the moderating effect of social support

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the impact of self-consciousness on depression of college students, and mainly focus on confirming the mediator role of life meaningful and self-efficacy, as well as the moderator role of social support.MethodsIn the present study, convenient sampling method was adopted, 583 college students were recruited from Harbin city and Wenzhou city in China. All students were assessed using self-assessment scales, including self-consciousness scale, life meaningful scale, self-efficacy scale, social support scale, and self-rating depression scale. Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis, structural equation model analysis were conducted by SPSS 25.0 and M-plus.ResultsResults showed that self-consciousness was negatively related to depression, life meaningful and self-efficacy partially mediated the relation between self-consciousness and depression. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the relation between self-efficacy and depression were moderated bu social support. Compare with college students who had high social support, depression in those with low social support was more susceptible to the effect of self-efficacy.ConclusionThese findings imply that college students with low levels of self-consciousness are more easy to be depressive, enhancing their sense of life meaning and self-efficacy can effectively alleviate depression, and college student with high social support can benefit more from self-efficacy. Therefore we should pay more attention to the mental health problems of low levels self-consciousness college students in university.

Burnout and depression in college students

Research on burnout has garnered considerable attention since its inception. However, the ongoing debate persists regarding the conceptual model of burnout and its relationship with depression. Thus, we conducted a network analysis to determine the dimensional structure of burnout and the burnout-depression overlap. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to measure burnout and depression among 1096 college students. We constructed networks for burnout, depression, and a burnout-depression co-occurrence network. The results showed that cynicism symptom was the most central to the burnout network. In the co-occurrence network, depressive symptoms (“anhedonia”, “fatigue”) and burnout symptom (“doubting the significance of studies”) were the most significant in causing burnout-depression comorbidity. Community detection revealed three communities within burnout symptoms, aligning closely with their three dimensions identified through factor analysis. Additionally, there was no overlap between burnout and depression. In conclusion, our findings support a multidimensional structure of burnout, affirming it as a distinct concept separate from depression. Cynicism, rather than exhaustion, plays the most important role in burnout and the burnout-depression comorbidity.

The effect of childhood trauma on depression in college students: A moderated mediation model

ObjectiveChildhood trauma is considered as a critical risk factor for depression. Although many studies have investigated the pathway of Childhood trauma to depression, especially the mediating or moderating effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies or neuroticism or stress perception, the results were inconsistent and the underlying psychological mechanisms of depression remain unclear. This study aims to explore the influence and mechanism of childhood trauma on depression in college students, and establish a full model among these interactive factors. Methods1272 college students were surveyed using the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ), short version of center for epidemiologic studies depression scale (CES-D), Chinese perceived stress scale (CPSS), neuroticism extraversion openness five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI), and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). Results(1) Childhood trauma, neuroticism, stress perception, and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies were all significantly and positively correlated with depression among college students; (2) Stress perception and neuroticism act as a chain mediator between childhood trauma and depression in college students. (3) Maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies play a moderating role in “childhood trauma-neuroticism-depression”. ConclusionChildhood trauma increases the risk of depression in college students by affecting neuroticism and stress perception, and high levels of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies link neuroticism and enhance the effect of childhood trauma on depression in college students.

Effectiveness of computer-based stress inoculation training (SIT) counseling approach on anxiety, depression, and stress of students with premenstrual syndrome

BackgroundPremenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a common public health issue affecting many women of reproductive age worldwide. This study has been designed to investigate of computer-based stress inoculation training (SIT) counseling approach on anxiety, depression, and stress of university students with PMS.MethodsA randomized trial study with two parallel arms was done from 30 October 2022 to 21 June 2023 on 100 university students aged 18 to 38 at Babol University of Medical Sciences. The participants were randomly divided into two groups intervention and control. The data collection tools included questionnaires on demographic-fertility characteristics, the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) and Riff’s Psychological Well-being Scale (RPWS). The data were assessed using chi-square, t-student, ANOVA repeated measure, and linear regression tests. A significance level of P < 0.05 was considered for the analysis.ResultsThe results of the study showed that the SIT interventions decreased the PMS severity and most psychological factors so in the intervention group, SIT was able to significantly reduce anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and Sheehan’s disability after intervention (P < 0.001). Based on multiple linear regression analysis, the most predictors of HADS were the PSS and SDS (β = 0.285, p = 0.009 and β = 0.236, p = 0.024, respectively).ConclusionThe computer-based SIT counseling approach could reduce the severity of symptoms and psychological factors in students. Therefore, SIT intervention is recommended to manage their PMS.Trial registrationIRCT20230130057274N2.

The effect of social support on home isolation anxiety and depression among college students in the post-pandemic era: the mediating effect of perceived loss of control and the moderating role of family socioeconomic status.

There is an escalating concern about the rising levels of anxiety and depression among college students, especially during the post-pandemic era. A thorough examination of the various dimensions of social support and their impact on these negative emotions in college students is imperative. This study aimed to determine if a perceived loss of control mediates the relationship between social support and levels of anxiety and depression among college students during the post-pandemic era. Additionally, it examined whether family socioeconomic status moderates this mediated relationship. We administered an online cross-sectional survey in China, securing responses from 502 participants. The sample comprised home-isolated college students impacted by COVID-19. Established scales were employed to assess social support, anxiety, depression, perceived loss of control, and family socioeconomic status. Analytical techniques included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and a bootstrap method to investigate mediating and moderating effects. Social support was found to negatively affect anxiety and depression in college students, with perceived loss of control partially mediating this relationship. In addition, family socio-economic status was shown to moderate this moderating process. Furthermore, family socioeconomic status influenced this mediation, with higher socioeconomic families exhibiting a stronger moderating effect on perceived loss of control across different dimensions of social support. This study may help to develop strategies to mitigate the impact of anxiety and depression in the lives and studies of university students during unexpected public health crises, and to promote better mental health among college students.