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 3
  4. Mauro García-Toro 3
  5. Victoria Coronado-Simsic 1
  6. Adoracion Castro 4
  7. Guillem Navarra-Ventura 3
  8. Gemma Vilagut 5
  9. Itxaso Alayo 5
  10. Laura Ballester 5
  11. María Jesus Blasco 5
  12. Jose Almenara 6
  13. Ana Isabel Cebria 7
  14. Enrique Echeburua 8
  15. Andrea Gabilondo 9
  16. Carolina Lagares 6
  17. Jose Antonio Piqueras 10
  18. Victoria Soto-Sanz 10
  19. Philippe Mortier 11
  20. Ronald C. Kessler 12
  21. Jordi Alonso 5
  22. Ines Forteza-Rey 2
  23. Margalida Gili 4
  1. 1 Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS). University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  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 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; Department of Medicine, University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  4. 4 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; Department of Psychology, University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  5. 5 Health Services Research Group, IMIM-Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mediques., Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
  6. 6 University of Cadiz (UCA), Biomedicina, Biotecnología y Salud P ublica, C adiz, Spain
  7. 7 Corporate Healthcare Consortium Parc Taulí, Department of Mental Health, Sabadell, Spain; CIBER Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
  8. 8 University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Department of Psychology, San Sebastian, Spain
  9. 9 Osakidetza-Basque Health Service, Outpatient Mental Health Care Network, Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain
  10. 10 Miguel Hernandez University of Elche (UMH), Department of Health Psychology, Elche, Spain
  11. 11 Health Services Research Group, IMIM-Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mediques., Barcelona, Spain; KU Leuven, Center for Public Health Psychiatry, Leuven, Belgium
  12. 12 Harvard Medical School, Department of Health Care Policy, Boston, MA, United States
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

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.