Table 1.
Factors related to depression in college students
Category
|
Specific variable
|
Factor positively correlated with high levels of depression
|
Biological factors | Sex | Inconclusive |
Nationality | Ethnic minorities[18], international student[14,19] | |
Family | Low family socioeconomic status[14,18,26,27] | |
Non-only child[19], too many siblings[6] | ||
Parents divorced or having mental problems[29,30], family dysfunction[11] | ||
Adverse childhood experiences such as injury, physical violence, psychological abuse and lack of family care[30,31] | ||
Insufficient social support especially family support[11,14,36,39] | ||
Personality and psychological state | Neuroticism[20] | |
Presence of psychological illness[21,22] | ||
High level of psychological stress (including value, aspiration, deprivation, or coping)[23] | ||
Low self-efficacy[14,24] | ||
Solitude[25] | ||
College experience | Year of study | Inconclusive |
Academic performance | Poor academic performance[21,30] | |
Financial support | Lack of financial resources and support[21] | |
Living arrangement | Do not have own room[6,26] | |
College satisfaction | Low satisfaction with teachers and low satisfaction with college major[26], low satisfaction with university facilities[22] | |
Lifestyle | Physical exercise | Lack of physical exercise[11,14,20] |
Substance abuse | Smoking and drinking[6,12,21] (especially alcohol intake[32,33]) | |
Sleep | Daytime drowsiness[20,34], poor sleep quality[21], sleep too short[35] or too long[10] | |
Diet | Unhealthy food intake[30], gluttony[14], skipping breakfast[10], malnutrition[36] | |
Network usage | Social networking sites, online game addiction[37,38] |