Prevalence of depression and anxiety and correlations between depression, anxiety, family functioning, social support and coping styles among Chinese medical students

BMC Psychology

Yanhua Hou¹  Lu Xu¹  Liangsheng Kong²  Yongqiang Yang³  Ping He⁴  Bin Ling⁴  Li Tan⁴  Ruyue Shao⁴ 

[1] Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Pharmaceutical Sciences;Key Laboratory of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics (Ministry of Education), College of Laboratory Medicin, Chongqing Medical University;School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University;School of Clinical Medicine, Chongqing Medical and Pharmaceutical College;

关键词: Depression;    Anxiety;    Family function;    Social support;    Coping style;    Medical students;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40359-020-00402-8

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Medical students experience depression and anxiety at a higher rate than the general population or students from other specialties. While there is a growing literature on the high prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms and about potential risk factors to the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among medical students, there is a paucity of evidence focused on the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms and associations with family function, social support and coping styles in Chinese vocational medicine students. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among Chinese medical students and assess the correlation between depression/anxiety symptoms and family function, social support and coping styles. Methods A sample of 2057 medical students from Chongqing Medical and Pharmaceutical College in China was investigated with a self-report questionnaire, which included demographic information, Zung self-rating depression scale, Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Family APGAR Index, Social Support Rating Scale and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire. Results The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among the medical students was 57.5 and 30.8%, respectively. Older students(≥20 years) experienced higher levels of depression and anxiety. More depression and anxiety symptoms were exhibited among students with big financial burden, big study-induced stress and poor sleep quality. Students with large employment pressure showed more anxiety symptoms. Students who live alone or had bad relationship with their lovers or classmates or friends showed higher depression and anxiety scores. Depression and anxiety symptoms had highly significant correlations with family functioning, social support and coping style. Conclusions Academic staffs should take measures to reduce depression and anxiety among medical students and to provide educational counseling and psychological support for students to cope with these problems.

【 授权许可】

Unknown