Assessment of Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Female Students Living in Dormitories of Qom University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background: Due to their particular circumstances during this critical period of life, female students living in dormitories of students often face with situations against which experience many emotional reactions. Since the mental health of society largely depends on their mental health and psychological damage in this important part of female can be increased, early determination of depression and anxiety as well as identification of the amount and sources of stress in students can prevent complications and psychological consequences. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the assessment of depression, anxiety, and stress among female students living in dormitories of Qom University of Medical Sciences Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study that was performed in 2015 on 300 students of Qom University of Medical Sciences who were selected using quota sampling. Data collection was performed using the DASS Scale (depression, anxiety, stress scale) included 42 items related to the domains of depression, anxiety and stress. Data were explored via percentage, mean and standard deviation. Statistical data were analyzed with analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficient using SPSS software. Results: The mean age of students was 21.64 ± 3.50 years that most of whom were undergraduate and single students and mean of educational score was 16.17 ± 1.15. The results of this study showed that 24.9% of students suffered from stress, 21.6% from depression, and 20.2% had anxiety. There was no statistically significant correlation between "interest in the field of study" with two areas of depression (P = 0.003) and stress (P = 0.01) and there was also a significant relationship between “economy of families” and depression (P = 0.04). Meanwhile, there was a meaningful relationship between “family relationship status of students” and depression (P = 0.0001) and anxiety (P = 0.05). Conclusions: The results indicated that stress, anxiety, and depression were prevalent in female students living in dormitories and factors such as interest in the field of education, socioeconomic status of families, and family relationship status of students were associated to stress, anxiety, and depression in students. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to students’ mental condition and creating a peaceful environment, effective coping strategies should be taught to students.