Do Certain Factors Play A Role

Do certain factors play a role in depression amongst college students? Maynard V Duquesnay Borough of Manhattan Community College

Abstract Depression plays a huge role on young college students and how they cope with society. They are many habits and mental feelings that can cause depression, such as anxiety stress and ultimately can lean to suicidal thoughts. Factors that can play a role in a young college student dealing with depression can be religion, residency, and life satisfaction, demographics such as gender or ethnicity. These factors can seem like norm to the everyday person outside of university life but to college students may affect how they deal with depression. The study of depression amongst college students is critical to researchers who try to find ways to minimize the phenomenon and bring useable methods to counter depression amongst college students. This paper will discuss depression and if certain factors such as lifestyle and behaviors play a role on college students well being.

Do certain factors play a role in depression amongst college students?
Many students out of high school have no idea what they want to do after high school. High school is looked as a carefree environment where students wake up every day and follow a routine that is comfortable. When it is time to apply to college that’s when reality hits and students are up for a wakeup call that life starts to get serious after high school and it is their transition from being a young adolescent to a young adult. Depression amongst young college students is real and rightfully so for some, as students begin to realize that life after high school isn’t what is all cracked up to be. Depression disorder is one of the most common mental disorders, with lifetime prevalence of 16.2 % and 12-month prevalence of 6.6% in the general population (Chen, Wang, Qui, X.X Yang, Qiao, Y.J.Yang. Liang, 2013). This shows how depression can play a huge role on how college students develop into adulthood. Additionally, young college students face numerous academic, financial, and social stressors that may negatively alter their mental health ( Dusselier, Dunn, Wang, Shelley & Whalen, 2005). Students are more likely to be depressed based on those stressors. This literature review will discuss how certain factors play a role in depression amongst college students by answering the following questions:1. What is Depression? 2. Does a student’s life style play a role? 3. Does a student’s coping style contribute to depression? 4. How can depression amongst college students be addressed?
What is Depression?
Depression is defined as a mental disorder that affects people’s day to day thinking. Depression has many factors including anxiety and stress which can lead to depression. Depression can also lead to suicidal thoughts and the most extreme of them all suicide. In the 1960s, clinical psychologist noticed that depression is linked to low self esteem and began to theorize that depressed people have a distorted perception of the world (Baumeister, and Bushman, 2011). This shows that depression is a serious problem in society and can greatly affect how people view their surroundings. This can affect an individual’s everyday life and how they react to it. Depression is categorized as a mind state from anger to sadness an individual sees the world as gray and compared to other individuals who are happy everyday a person with depression for a period of time loses that state of mind which in sense is a natural one from birth. A cause of depression can come from something as little as being in a line of work an individual is not satisfied with; person being in a relationship that he or she doesn’t want to be in. Some go through depressive state of mind for a long period. Others just breeze through it just looking at it as a much needed fall back in order to get their priorities straight. Does a student’s life style play a role? Student’s life style can play a role on how they cope with depression. For example, a recent study by Lamis and Malone(2011) tested Joiner’s (2005) interpersonal theory on suicide which proposed that thwarted belongingness(I.e., disrupted social relationships) and perceived burdensomeness predicts suicide proneness, along with problems associated with alcohol use( Lester,2013,107). This shows how being part of a social group or relationship can greatly affect a student’s mental state. He or she might feel as if they are not accepted by their peers and they seek alcohol as an escape and continuing use of the substance can leave to depression. Students who identified themselves as religious were less depressed and anxious than those who were not religious ( Mahmoud, Staten Hallm Lennie, 2012). Students who had a strict lifestyle that follow a certain religion were better off than those who did not identify with a religion. College residency also can have an effect on college students suffering from depression. The major finding was that those living on campus had significantly higher depression scores than those living with their parents (M 3.7 and 2.6, SD= 2.2 and 1.8, respectively; t66= 2.14, two-tailed p=.04, Cohen’s d=0.26)(Lester,2012,107). Being away from parents maybe a reason why students living on campus have higher depression scores.

Does a student’s coping style contribute to depression?
How a college student deal’s with social factors such as finances or their academic performance depends on how they react to the stressors. The traditional model of coping (Lazurus & Folkman, 1984) differentiated between two main stress-coping mechanisms, adaptive and maladaptive (Mahmoud, Staten, Hall, Lennie, 2012). These two methods showed how students can react to depression in a positive or negative way. These methods are crucial on how a student deals with depression. Adaptive coping behaviors involve defining the stressful situation, actively seeking support, reflecting on possible solutions, and taking actions to resolve the situation (Mahmoud, Staten, Hall, Lennie, 2012). This method shows the student taking the intuitive to combat the depression. A student can take this on by talking to family about their problems or a school counselor. Such actions resolve the stressful situation and result in positive psychological and emotional adjustment (Mahmoud, Staten, Hall, Lennie, 2012). A student who takes on an adaptive approach to battling depression is most likely to minimize the effects of depression. Conversely, maladaptive coping behaviors include efforts to withdraw from the stressful situation or to avoid seeking solutions; this may result in a failure to resolve the stressful situation and can be associated with anxiety (Mahmoud, Staten, Hall, Lennie, 2012). This method is seen as a negative approach to take on depression. A student who is pressured by a midterm and has high levels of anxiety and drops the class has taken on the maladaptive approach. Instead of seeking help from family members or receiving on extra help such as tutoring they escape although it seems an easy way out, the student will have to pay for it later on as he or she will have to repeat the course at a later time. This, in turn, is a loss of time which can never be brought back. A student may take a maladaptive approach by not telling their parents about the situation and that in turns make he or she becomes comfortable without seeking support from a paternal or maternal figure. The student may feel ashamed in telling their parents he or she is suffering from depression, anxiety because he or she might feel that the parent may look at them different. That the parent may look down on them or talk bad about to other family members or friends. The student doesn’t realize that by holding off not telling their parents or a paternal or maternal figure that he or she has a problem only cause more harm to the individual suffering from the depression. Students also suffer from depression because of academic achievement most likely from the cause of pressure from excelling in school. Students who come fresh out of high school see College as a new experience and the campus life such as partying can lead the student to performing unsatisfactory in school. The student may have option such as tutoring and group study but the student may be too naïve from learned habits from high school of being carefree. This approach can be seen as maladaptive because the student may be introduced to help but overlook it and continue to party and in the long run the student is only hurting their self. Alcohol and drug abuse can also be another maladaptive approach a student can take. Alcohol which is known as an intoxicant is mostly linked to people suffering from depression. Most people see it as an escape as it lowers the inhibition and deals with the more childlike and creative side of the brain. Most students fresh out of high school even at the tender age of eighteen are exposed to substances like alcohol especially if he or she joins a fraternity or attends parties on campus. A student who is introverted their whole life sees other students who are flourishing on campus by joining activities such as clubs, sport teams and sororities. Alcohol is used as a gateway in order for him or her to feel cool although they are the depressed alcohol gives on a connotation as for the student to feel happy. It most cases other students like being around other happy students so alcohol gives that feeling of happiness to the depressed students. Although he or she is getting that temporary fixed this approach is deemed as negative and can have a long lasting affective on how the students health and lifestyle is affected in the long run. The most extreme negative approach a student can take is drugs a student can feel down and out suffering from anxiety from finals or midterm and he or she decides to party the night before. The student is offered a drug and he or she takes it and ends up missing the finals or even at the hospital. This temporary form of euphoria or hallucination can greatly affect the students well being in short term or long term. Most likely a young college student will take the maladaptive approach when reacting to the stressors of depression. This is most likely due to it being the easy way for the student to take because he or she is inexperience in taking on a new world of college and their hs teachers and mothers and fathers can no longer guide them step by step. In high school students worked with their parents as a team but in college their send off all alone almost like playing golf hoping to get a hole and one and get that degree, not knowing the many obstacles that can block you from getting that hole and one.

How can depression amongst college students be addressed? Depression amongst students can be addressed by taking the adaptive approach to the situation. Students can tackle depression many ways such as if he or she is tied to depression and substance abuse they can go to a 12-step problem instead of ignoring the problem. Students could be surrounded by other students facing the same dilemma as them and that would make them feel more comfortable getting all their frustrations out in the air. A student who is suffering academically and is dealing with the pressure and anxiety of campus life can join study groups where he or she can interact with students. This will allow the student to socialize and better the grade with students who already have some understanding of the subject. They should also be more college researches done on students in order to help better understand depression amongst young college students. Discussion Depression is a serious topic that many college students are faced with. Some students attend college and get adjusted with the life style others fall and get back up or some just fall all together. Regardless of the faith of many college students during their tender in school many students experience anxiety, depression. Some students see it as a stepping stone and a obstacle formed in order for them to break out of some see it as a never ending black hole that he or she is trapped in. Many college students can agree it is a challenging phase and can shape their outlook on life. Being a student I myself have gone through periods of depression. Fresh out of high school I entered a new world being at a university and staying on campus being away from family. Like other students I was excited of having my own freedom and joining the line of my brothers and sisters who went through the campus life. That being said it also added pressure on me as my father always compared me to my older siblings always reminding me your next don’t disappoint me. This added some anxiety as starting out college I didn’t know what I want to do so I was undeclared and mostly uninteresting in whatever classes I was taking. I had one thing to look forward to and that was being a part of a team. I joined the basketball team and for once I felt that I was actually part of the university. Time went by and I started to take maladaptive practices because of low grades and having to tell my family I was still doing well in school. Things took a turn when I was kicked off the team and the anxiety and depression grew even more. The semester ended and grades where unsatisfactory and I was put on academic probation during the holidays I continued to lie to folks in order to save a so called embarrassing moment but in turn only made it worse. After another semester of failing I finally had to come clean as I was kicked out the school. My parents were madder that I didn’t tell them from the jump they were furious that I misused their trust in me. I have decided it was time to take an adaptive approach to battle my depression. Counseling and helped guide to the right path to rejoin college and pick a curriculum I was interested in. In my opinion depression can be handled in the right was with support from peers, professionals and family. In my experience just realizing something is wrong and I have to make a change using a positive approach is what helped the most. In conclusion I believe that factors do play a role in how young college students deal with depression. It is up to the student how he or she handles depression in whole.

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