Prevalence and factors associated with depression and anxiety among first-year university students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

Islam, S, Akter, R, Sikder, T and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2022. Prevalence and factors associated with depression and anxiety among first-year university students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20 (3), pp. 1289-1302. ISSN 1557-1874

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Abstract

University students, especially those in their first year, not only face challenges related to their personal life but also to their academic performance. Such unfavorable conditions predispose them to psychological illnesses such as depression and anxiety. The present study surveyed first-year undergraduate students to assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety and their potential underlying reasons. A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted with 400 first-year university students aged between 18 and 23 years residing at Jahangirnagar University (in Bangladesh). After providing informed consent, the participants completed a survey examining socio-demographic variables and behavioral variables, along with the PHQ-9 scale, and the GAD-7 scale. Binary logistic regression was performed to determine the significant associations between the variables under examination. The prevalence rates of moderate to extremely severe levels of depression and anxiety were 69.5% and 61%, respectively, with no significant gender differences. The main risk factors for depression were unsatisfactory sleep quality and lack of physical exercise. The main risk factor for anxiety was excessive internet use. The prevalence of depression and anxiety levels among first-year university students was high in the present study and appears to confirm the notion that first-year university students are a vulnerable group for mental illnesses. The findings suggest the need for intervention programs, alongside adequate and appropriate supportive services for Bangladeshi university students.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Creators:	Islam, S., Akter, R., Sikder, T. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Springer
Date:	June 2022
Volume:	20
Number:	3
ISSN:	1557-1874
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1007/s11469-020-00242-y DOI 1301031 Other
Rights:	© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	03 Mar 2020 11:53
Last Modified:	17 Jun 2022 15:40
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/39356

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