Depression and lifestyle among university students: A one-year follow-up study

  1. Lorenzo Roldan-Espínola 1
  2. Pau Riera-Serra 2
  3. Miquel Roca 1
  4. Mauro García-Toro 1
  5. Victoria Coronado-Simsic 1
  6. Adoracion Castro 1
  7. Guillem Navarra-Ventura 1
  8. Gemma Vilagut 3
  9. Itxaso Alayo 3
  10. Laura Ballester 3
  11. María Jesus Blasco 3
  12. Jose Almenara 4
  13. Ana Isabel Cebria 5
  14. Enrique Echeburua 6
  15. Andrea Gabilondo 7
  16. Carolina Lagares 4
  17. Jose Antonio Piqueras 8
  18. Victoria Soto-Sanz 8
  19. Philippe Mortier 9
  20. Ronald C. Kessler 10
  21. Jordi Alonso 3
  22. Ines Forteza-Rey 2
  23. Margalida Gili 1
  1. 1 Universitat de les Illes Balears
    info

    Universitat de les Illes Balears

    Palma, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03e10x626

  2. 2 Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS). University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdiSBa), Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  3. 3 Hospital del Mar
    info

    Hospital del Mar

    Barcelona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03a8gac78

  4. 4 Universidad de Cádiz
    info

    Universidad de Cádiz

    Cádiz, España

    ROR https://ror.org/04mxxkb11

  5. 5 Corporate Healthcare Consortium Parc Taulí, Department of Mental Health, Sabadell, Spain; CIBER Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
  6. 6 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

  7. 7 Osakidetza-Basque Health Service, Outpatient Mental Health Care Network, Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain
  8. 8 Miguel Hernandez University of Elche (UMH), Department of Health Psychology, Elche, Spain
  9. 9 Health Services Research Group, IMIM-Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mediques., Barcelona, Spain; KU Leuven, Center for Public Health Psychiatry, Leuven, Belgium
  10. 10 Harvard Medical School
    info

    Harvard Medical School

    Boston, Estados Unidos

Journal:
European journal of psychiatry

ISSN: 0213-6163

Year of publication: 2024

Volume: 38

Issue: 3

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1016/J.EJPSY.2024.100250 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: European journal of psychiatry

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

Background and objectives University stage is a risk period for development of mental disorders and major depression disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent disorders. There is increasing evidence about the influence of lifestyle factors on depression onset and maintenance, nevertheless there is a great heterogeneity between analyzed lifestyle factors and few longitudinal studies has been carried out. The current study aims to longitudinally assess the influence of lifestyle on MDD courses among first-year university students. Methods First-onset and persistence of MDD and lifestyle trajectories are measured using baseline and 12-months follow-up online surveys. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to study longitudinal risk/protective associations between lifestyle factors and MDD. Results 1,292 participants were included. Mean age of included participants at baseline was 18.5 (SD= 1.16) and 75.7 % were female. First-onset and persistence of MDD at T2 were 10.3 % and 38.9 % respectively. Maintenance of healthy sleep (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 0.26; 95 % CI =0.12–0.58) and physical activity (aOR = 0.24; 95 % CI = 0.10–0.58) were protectively associated against MDD first-onset. Adoption of healthy levels of social support showed a protective effect against MDD persistence (aOR = 0.17; 95 % CI = 0.07–0.44). Conclusions Lifestyle should be considered in order to improve depression prevention strategies among university students. Sleep, physical activity, and social support seem to have a crucial role in the onset and persistence of depression among this population.