Factors associated with mental distress among undergraduate students in northern Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Mental distress is a major public health problem which includes anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms such as sleeping problems, fatigue and headache. University students are consistently reported to have higher levels of mental distress compared to the general population. Although university students with mental distress have significantly impaired cognitive functioning, learning disabilities and poor academic performance, the burden of this problem in Tanzania is unknown. This study aimed to determine prevalence and factors associated with mental distress among undergraduate students in northern Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College from April-July 2018. Simple random sampling technique using probability proportional to size was used to sample students from their respective classes. Mental distress was screened using the self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20). Data was analyzed using Stata version 15.1. Frequencies and percentages were used to summarize categorical variables while mean and standard deviation for numeric variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with mental distress adjusted for potential confounders. Results: A total of 402 undergraduate students participated in this study, 14% screened positive for mental distress. Residing off-campus (OR = 0.44, 95%CI 0.20-0.96) and perceived availability of social support (OR = 0.22, 95%CI 0.11-0.45) reduced the odds of mental distress while students with family history of mental distress (OR = 2.60, 95%CI 1.04-6.57) and those with decreased grades than anticipated (OR = 3.61, 95%CI 1.91-6.83) had higher likelihood of mental distress. Conclusion: One in every ten students screened was positive for mental distress. Those who reported a family history of mental illness and lower grades than anticipated had higher response of mental distress. To relieve students from stress and frustrations related to studies and their lives in general, this study recommends awareness creation, counselling to help those with mental health issues, establishment of student drop-in centers for such services and promotion of social and recreational activities at the college.

Prevalence of depression and its relationship with quality of life among university students in Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China

“…This may be related to gender differences in seeking psychological help in China, where male students are less likely to utilize mental health services 44 . Inconsistent with results of previous studies 45 , no association was found between family history of mental disorders and depression in either of the sites. Data on family history of mental disorders were collected by self-report in this study, which method is less reliable due to fear of stigma and discrimination.…”

State and Trait Anxiety Among University Students: A Moderated Mediation Model of Negative Affectivity, Alexithymia, and Housing Conditions

“…Starting university seems to constitute a crucial period for the mental health of students (Molina et al, 2012;Pedrelli et al, 2015;Auerbach et al, 2016;Harris, 2019), who consistently report higher levels of distress compared to the general population (Stallman, 2010;Dachew et al, 2015;James et al, 2017;Tariku et al, 2017;Mboya et al, 2020). Previous research shows that 19.2-32% of university students reports mental health problems and subsyndromal symptoms (Stallman, 2010;Abdolhossini and Shikhmohamadi, 2012;Auerbach et al, 2016).…”

Fatores associados aos transtornos depressivos em estudantes universitários da área de saúde: uma revisão integrativa

“…Histórico familiar de doença mental também se mostrou associado à prevalência de sintomas depressivos (Mboya et al, 2020). No estudo de Flesch et al (2020), 56% dos alunos relataram ter história familiar de depressão e nos resultados de Rehmani (2018), 14% dos alunos têm um histórico familiar positivo de depressão.…”

“…Os aspectos acadêmicos também influenciam a ocorrência de depressão entre os estudantes universitários e os sintomas depressivos permaneceram significativamente associados ao baixo desempenho acadêmico (Sibnath et al, 2016;Ngin et al, 2018;Flesch et al, 2020), à obtenção de notas indesejadas (Othman et al, 2019;Mboya et al, 2020;Gul et al, 2020), menor satisfação com a escolha acadêmica (Piumatti, 2018;Leão et al, 2018), além de não estar no curso escolhido como primeira opção (Leão et al, 2018) e à preocupação em encontrar um emprego (Othman et al, 2019). A maior prevalência de depressão pode reduzir a qualidade de https://textura.famam.com.br/textura v.14, n.2, 2020 vida do estudante, resultando em perda do controle pessoal, dificuldade na capacidade de aprendizagem consequentemente menor produtividade, diminuição do desempenho acadêmico e tentativa de suicídio (Dagnew, 2020).…”