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Annals of General Psychiatry
Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Primary research

Life satisfaction and happiness associated with depressive symptoms among university students: a cross-sectional study in Korea

Authors: Eun Hyun Seo, Seung-Gon Kim, Sang Hoon Kim, Jung Ho Kim, Jung Hyun Park, Hyung-Jun Yoon

Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

This cross-sectional study investigated the impact of life satisfaction and happiness, as well as the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in a large sample of university students.

Methods

We included 2338 students at 6 universities in 1 metropolitan city and 2 provinces of Korea. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory, and scores of 16 or higher were categorized as the presence of depression. Various sociodemographic, life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical factors (alcohol consumption and sleep quality) were measured. According to the presence of depression, sociodemographic, life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical characteristics were compared using statistical analyses. Further, a logistic regression model was constructed to examine the impact of life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical factors on depression.

Results

Among participants, 13.4% were identified as having depression. Life satisfaction and happiness were associated with a lower risk of depression, while hazardous alcohol drinking and poor sleep quality were related to a higher risk of depression. In addition, female gender, subjective body shape as obese, and insufficient pocket money were found to be significant correlates of depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated possible risk and protective factors of underlying depressive symptoms. Especially, our findings suggest that improvement in life satisfaction and happiness would be important in the prevention and management of depression. Our findings may contribute to developing specialized mental health programs for prevention, screening, and treatment of depression among university students.
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Metadata
Title
Life satisfaction and happiness associated with depressive symptoms among university students: a cross-sectional study in Korea
Authors
Eun Hyun Seo
Seung-Gon Kim
Sang Hoon Kim
Jung Ho Kim
Jung Hyun Park
Hyung-Jun Yoon
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Annals of General Psychiatry / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1744-859X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-018-0223-1

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