Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in a Representative Sample of Undergraduate Students in Spain, Portugal, and Brazil

Abstract

University students have shown a significant occurrence of depression and anxiety symptoms. This epidemiological work investigated the prevalence of such symptoms in university students in Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, as well as the possible differences according to nationality and gender from a representative sample of three universities (University of Extremadura/Spain, n = 1216; University of Coimbra/Portugal, n = 426, and PUC-Rio, n = 315) in 2015. The results suggest that Brazilian students have a greater manifestation of depression symptoms, especially women, and they also presented greater symptoms of anxiety. No difference was found in the anxiety results between countries. The correlation between depression and anxiety was positive and strong. This study can be of value in social, clinical and political settings.