Adult first-year students’ reports of depressive symptoms at a rural South African university

Depression is a significant mental health issue affecting university students, especially those in their first year of study. Unfortunately, much of the research has focused on students in the adolescent stage of development. This study, which is part of a larger project, sought to explore depressive symptoms in older students. We administered the University Student Depression Inventory (USDI) to a sample of 318 undergraduate first-year students between 22 and 54 years at a rural-based university in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The sample comprised mainly women (64.2%). We examined depressive symptom prevalence, gender, rural/urban background, and age effects. The results showed that men and rural students reported significantly more depressive symptoms, with 7.9% of the sample reporting thoughts of suicide and 16.7% questioning whether life is worth living, most or all of the time. Almost one-quarter (24.5%) of the participants stated that they spend more time alone than they did previously, and 17.9% reported loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Although the participants reported fewer depressive symptoms overall, compared to an earlier study of adolescent university students, the present findings raise concern. Considering that almost one-quarter of the participants reported a loss of interest (which is a critical symptom of depressive illness) and one in six questioning whether life is worth living, the need for active interventions, support and prevention programmes for students at universities is an urgent matter.