Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Vragadinou Street, Limassol, Cyprus.
BMC Public Health. 2013 Dec 5;13:1121. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1121.
Previous findings suggest that stressful life events have a causal relationship with depressive symptoms. However, to date little is known concerning the contribution of the number and severity of recent stressful life events on the prevalence of depressive symptoms among university students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its association with the number and the severity of self-reported stressful life events among university students in Cyprus.
A descriptive correlational design with cross sectional comparison was used. The CES-D scale was applied for the assessment of depressive symptoms and the LESS instrument for stressful life events. Both scales were completed anonymously and voluntarily by 1.500 students (response rate 85%).
The prevalence of mild to moderate depressive symptoms [CES-D score between 16 and 21] and of clinically significant depressive symptoms [CES-D score ≥ 22] were 18.8% and 25.3% respectively. There were statistically significant differences in clinically significant depressive symptoms by gender, with higher rates among women (x(2) = 8.53, df = 1, p = 0.003). Higher scores on the LESS scale were associated with more frequent reports of clinical depressive symptoms (x(2) = 70.63, df = 4, p < 0.001). Similarly, an association was found between the number of life events and clinical depressive symptoms (x(2) = 40.06, df = 4, p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics confirmed that the responders who reported a high number (n = 12-21) of stressful life events during the previous year (OR = 2.64 95% CI: 1.02, 6.83) and a severe degree of stress due to these events (total LESS score > 351, OR = 3.03 95% CI: 1.66, 5.39) were more likely to manifest clinical depressive symptoms.
The high frequency of occurrence of depressive symptoms among Cypriot university students, as well as the strong association with stressful life events, highlights the need for psychological empowerment strategies towards students by institutional counseling services.
先前的研究结果表明，生活应激事件与抑郁症状之间存在因果关系。然而，目前对于近期生活应激事件的数量和严重程度对大学生抑郁症状的发生率的影响知之甚少。本研究旨在调查塞浦路斯大学生抑郁症状的发生率及其与自报告生活应激事件的数量和严重程度的关系。
采用描述性相关性设计，并进行了横断面比较。使用 CES-D 量表评估抑郁症状，LESS 量表评估生活应激事件。这两个量表均由 1500 名学生匿名自愿填写（应答率为 85%）。
轻度至中度抑郁症状（CES-D 评分 16-21 分）和临床显著抑郁症状（CES-D 评分≥22 分）的发生率分别为 18.8%和 25.3%。性别之间在临床显著抑郁症状方面存在统计学差异，女性的发生率更高（x²=8.53，df=1，p=0.003）。LESS 量表的得分越高，报告临床抑郁症状的频率越高（x²=70.63，df=4，p<0.001）。同样，生活事件的数量与临床抑郁症状之间也存在关联（x²=40.06，df=4，p<0.001）。在调整了社会人口学特征后，逻辑回归分析证实，在过去一年中报告大量（n=12-21）生活应激事件（OR=2.64，95%CI：1.02，6.83）和这些事件导致的严重压力（总 LESS 评分>351，OR=3.03，95%CI：1.66，5.39）的应答者更有可能出现临床抑郁症状。
塞浦路斯大学生抑郁症状的高发生率，以及与生活应激事件的强烈关联，凸显了机构咨询服务向学生提供心理赋权策略的必要性。
