Volume 11, Issue 4 (2023)                   Health Educ Health Promot 2023, 11(4): 599-608 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


1- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
3- School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
4- Cancer Resource & Education Center, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
Abstract:   (1044 Views)
Aims: Depression in Malaysia represents a significant and growing public health concern. With the current challenges in academic and university life, university students have become particularly vulnerable to depression and are unable to cope with stress. Accordingly, this study aimed to identify associative factors for depression among Malaysian students.
Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at public and private universities in Malaysia. A convenience sample of 1821 out of 1860 cases were approached and completed self-administered questionnaires, regarding depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and their socio-demographic, academic, and psychosocial characteristics. A Chi-square test was conducted to find the relationship between the variables and depression, followed by multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify the predictors.
Findings: More than one-third (33.8%) of students scored clinical levels of depression. Financial support for the study, alcohol consumption, poor sleep quality, body mass index, and the global score for psychosocial characteristics were predictors of depression.
Conclusion: A high rate of depression in Malaysian students may be mitigated by addressing the influencing factors. Interventions, such as lifestyle change can reduce depression in this group.
Full-Text [PDF 792 kb]   (1045 Downloads) |   |   Full-Text (HTML)  (271 Views)  
Article Type: Original Research | Subject: Social Health
Received: 2023/06/24 | Accepted: 2023/10/3 | Published: 2023/10/18
* Corresponding Author Address: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia. (sherina@upm.edu.my)

References
1. Lasalvia A, Van Bortel T, Bonetto C, Jayaram G, Van Weeghel J, Zoppei S, et al. Cross-national variations in reported discrimination among people treated for major depression worldwide: The ASPEN/INDIGO international study. Br J Psychiatry. 2015;207:507-14. [Link] [DOI:10.1192/bjp.bp.114.156992]
2. Gelenberg AJ. The prevalence and impact of depression. J Clin Psychiatry.2010;71:e06. [Link] [DOI:10.4088/JCP.8001tx17c]
3. Saleh A, Potter GG, Mcquoid DR, Boyd B, Turner R, Macfall JR, Taylor WD. Effects of early life stress on depression, cognitive performance and brain morphology. Psychol Med. 2017;47(1):171-81. [Link] [DOI:10.1017/S0033291716002403]
4. Bilsen J. Suicide and youth: Risk factors. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:540. [Link] [DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00540]
5. Michalis G, Bellos S, Politis S, Magklara K, Petrikis P, Skapinakis P. Epidemiology of alcohol use in late adolescence in Greece and comorbidity with depression and other common mental disorders. Depress Res Treat. 2019:2019:5871857. [Link] [DOI:10.1155/2019/5871857]
6. Wong LP, Alias H, Md Fuzi AA, Omar IS, Mohamad nor A, Tan MP, et al. Escalating progression of mental health disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a nationwide survey. PLoS One. 2021;16(3):e0248916. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0248916]
7. Vasilyeva ER, Sinagatullin IM. Influence of globalisation on modern education. In International session on factors of regional extensive development (FRED 2019). Amsterdam: Atlantis Press. 2020. p. 75-78. [Link] [DOI:10.2991/fred-19.2020.17]
8. Machin S, Murphy R. Paying out and crowding out? The globalisation of higher education. J Econ Geogr. 2017;17:1075-110. [Link] [DOI:10.1093/jeg/lbx006]
9. Shamsuddin K, Fadzil F, Wan Ismail WS, Shah SA, Omar K, Muhammad NA, et al. Correlates of depression, anxiety and stress among Malaysian university students. Asian J Psychiatr. 2013;6(4):318-23. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.ajp.2013.01.014]
10. Kader Maideen SF, Mohd Sidik S, Rampal L, Mukhtar F. Prevalence, associated factors and predictors of depression among adults in the community of Selangor, Malaysia. PLoS One. 2014;9(4):e95395. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0095395]
11. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Washington: APA; 2013. [Link] [DOI:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596]
12. Kotera Y, Cockerill V, Chircop J, Kaluzeviciute G, Dyson S. Predicting self-compassion in UK nursing students: Relationships with resilience, engagement, motivation, and mental wellbeing. Nurse Educ Pract. 2021;51:102989. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.102989]
13. Kotera Y, Van Laethem M, Ohshima R. Cross-cultural comparison of mental health between Japanese and Dutch workers: Relationships with mental health shame, self-compassion, work engagement and motivation. Cross Cult Strateg Manag. 2020;27(3):511-30. [Link] [DOI:10.1108/CCSM-02-2020-0055]
14. Peltzer K, Yi S, Pengpid S. Suicidal behaviours and associated factors among university students in six countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Asian J Psychiatr. 2017;26:32-8. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.ajp.2017.01.019]
15. Leong Bin Abdullah, MFI, Ahmad Yusof H, Mohd Shariff N, Nisman NF, Law KS. Depression and anxiety in the Malaysian urban population and their association with demographic characteristics, quality of life, and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Curr Psychol. 2021;40(12):6259-70. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s12144-021-01492-2]
16. Yee A, Hodori NM, Tung YZ, Ooi PL, Abdul Latif SAB, Md Isa H, et al. Depression level and coping responses toward the movement control order and its impact on quality of life in the Malaysian community during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based cross-sectional study. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2021;20(1):31. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/s12991-021-00352-4]
17. Rotenstein LS, Ramos MA, Torre M, Bradley Segal J, Peluso MJ, Guille C, et al. Prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation among medical students a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Med Assoc. 2016;316(21):2214-36. [Link] [DOI:10.1001/jama.2016.17324]
18. Sokratous S, Merkouris A, Middleton N, Karanikola M. The prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of depressive symptoms among Cypriot university students: A cross-sectional descriptive co-relational study. BMC Psychiatry. 2014;14:235. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/s12888-014-0235-6]
19. Farrer LM, Gulliver A, Bennett K, Fassnacht DB, Griffiths KM. Demographic and psychosocial predictors of major depression and generalised anxiety disorder in Australian university students. BMC Psychiatry. 2016;16:241. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/s12888-016-0961-z]
20. Sakin Ozen N, Ercan A, Irgil A, Sigirli D. Anxiety prevalence and affecting factors among university students. Asia-Pacific J Public Heal. 2010;22(1):127-33. [Link] [DOI:10.1177/1010539509352803]
21. Krumrei-Mancuso EJ, Newton FB, Kim E, Wilcox D. Psychosocial factors predicting first-year college student success. J Coll Stud Dev. 2013;54(3):247-66. [Link] [DOI:10.1353/csd.2013.0034]
22. Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001;16(9):606-13. [Link] [DOI:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x]
23. Sherina MS, Arroll B, Goodyear-Smith F. Criterion validity of the PHQ-9 (Malay version) in a primary care clinic in Malaysia. Med J Malaysia. 2012;67(3):309-15. [Link]
24. West CP, Shanafelt TD, Kolars JC. Quality of life, burnout, educational debt, and medical knowledge among internal medicine residents. JAMA. 2011;306(9):952-60. [Link] [DOI:10.1001/jama.2011.1247]
25. Shim EJ, Lee JW, Cho J, Jung HK, Kim NH, Lee JC, et al. Association of depression and anxiety disorder with the risk of mortality in breast cancer: A National Health Insurance Service study in Korea. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2020;179(2):491-8. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s10549-019-05479-3]
26. Zhu J, Wang F, Shi L, Cai H, Zheng Y, Zheng W, et al. Accelerated aging in breast cancer survivors and its association with mortality and cancer recurrence. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2020;180(2):449-59. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s10549-020-05541-5]
27. Sarokhani D, Delpisheh A, Veisani Y, Sarokhani MT, Manesh RE, Sayehmir K. Prevalence of depression among university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis study. Depress Res Treat. 2013:2013:373857. [Link] [DOI:10.1155/2013/373857]
28. Nahas ARMF, Elkalmi RM, Al-Shami AM, Elsayed TM. Prevalence of depression among health sciences students: Findings from a public university in Malaysia. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2019;11(2):170-5. [Link] [DOI:10.4103/JPBS.JPBS_263_18]
29. Nguyen M, Le T, Meirmanov S. Depression, acculturative stress, and social connectedness among international university students in Japan: A statistical investigation. Sustainability. 2019;11(3):878. [Link] [DOI:10.3390/su11030878]
30. Islam MA, Low WY, Tong WT, Yuen CCW, Abdullah A. Factors associated with depression among university students in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study. In The 2nd International Meeting of Public Health. 2016;415-27. [Link]
31. Saravanan C, Wilks R. Medical students' experience of and reaction to stress: The role of depression and anxiety. Sci World J. 2014;2014:737382. [Link] [DOI:10.1155/2014/737382]
32. Oppong Asante K, Andoh-Arthur J. Prevalence and determinants of depressive symptoms among university students in Ghana. J Affect Disord. 2015;171:161-6. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2014.09.025]
33. Boden JM, Fergusson DM. Alcohol and depression. Addiction. 2011;106(5):906-14. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03351.x]
34. Schlarb AA, Claßen M, Grünwald J, Vögele C. Sleep disturbances and mental strain in university students: Results from an online survey in Luxembourg and Germany. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2017;11:24. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/s13033-017-0131-9]
35. Feng Q, Zhang Q, Du Y, Ye YL, He QQ. Associations of physical activity, screen time with depression, anxiety and sleep quality among Chinese college freshmen. PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e100914. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0100914]
36. Seun-Fadipe CT, Mosaku KS. Sleep quality and psychological distress among undergraduate students of a Nigerian university. Sleep Heal. 2017;3(3):190-4. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.sleh.2017.02.004]
37. Lemma S, Gelaye B, Berhane Y, Worku A, Williams MA. Sleep quality and its psychological correlates among university students in Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry. 2012;12:237. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/1471-244X-12-237]
38. Abdel Sadek HA, Abu-Nazel MW, Shata ZN, Abd El-Fatah NK. The relationship between the BMI and the emotional status of Alexandria University students, Egypt. J Egypt Public Health Assoc. 2016;91(3):101-8. [Link] [DOI:10.1097/01.EPX.0000484542.88399.c7]
39. Lazarevich I, Irigoyen Camacho ME, Velázquez-Alva M del C, Zepeda Zepeda M. Relationship among obesity, depression, and emotional eating in young adults. Appetite. 2016;107:639-44. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.appet.2016.09.011]
40. Pengpid S, Peltzer K. Prevalence of overweight and underweight and its associated factors among male and female university students in Thailand. Homo. Biol. 2015;66(2):176-86. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.jchb.2014.11.002]
41. Brewis AA, Han SY, Sturtz-Sreetharan CL. Weight, gender, and depressive symptoms in South Korea. Am J Hum Biol. 2017;29(4):e22972. [Link] [DOI:10.1002/ajhb.22972]
42. Dachew BA, Bisetegn TA, Gebremariam RB. Prevalence of mental distress and associated factors among undergraduate students of University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional institutional based study. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0119464. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0119464]
43. Wang X, Cai L, Qian J, Peng J. Social support moderates stress effects on depression. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2014;8(1):41. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/1752-4458-8-41]
44. Vancampfort D, Stubbs B, Sienaert P, Wyckaert S, De Hert M, Rosenbaum S, et al. What are the factors that influence physical activity participation in individuals with depression? A review of physical activity correlates from 59 studies. Psychiatr Danub. 2015;27(3):210-24. [Link]
45. Duru E, Balkis M. The roles of academic procrastination tendency on the relationships among self doubt, self esteem and academic achievement. Educ Sci. 2014;39(173):274-87. [Link]
46. Li J, Han X, Wang W, Sun G, Cheng Z. How social support influences university students' academic achievement and emotional exhaustion: The mediating role of self-esteem. Learn Individ Differ. 2018;61:120-6. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.lindif.2017.11.016]
47. Rubin M, Evans O, Wilkinson RB. A longitudinal study of the relations among university students' subjective social status, social contact with university friends, and mental health and well-being. J Soc Clin Psychol. 2016;35:722-37. [Link] [DOI:10.1521/jscp.2016.35.9.722]

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.