Depression among Undergradutate Students in

NUST – A Comprehensive Study

Abdullah Ashfaq Hassan Kamran
SEECS, NUST SEECS, NUST
aashfaq.bee15seecs@seecs.edu.pk hkamran.bee16seecs@seecs.edu.pk

Abstract— educational under-achievement and substance abuse [2].

Therefore, there is a need to take supportive measures.
Purpose: To study the extent of spread of depression among
the undergraduate students of NUST and identify the portion most
The studies, along with the statistical analysis,
affected so that targeted measures can be taken by the authorities.
attempt to mine the data answer the following questions:
Methods: An online survey was used. We employed the PHQ- 1. “In which years of degree is depression highest?”
9 and the Rorschach test to aid our study. A total of 77 students 2. “What are the factors that encourage depression the
from NUST participated in the survey. General information such as most?”
age, gender, etc. was also collected using the same form. 3. “How does exposure to social media affect
depression?”
Results: More than half of the population suffered from The objectives of this study are:
moderate or mild form of depression. Lack of time before exam
was found to be the major cause of depression. The normal
students or the ones with least severity of depression used social • To quantify the prevalence of depression among the
media sparingly. undergraduate students of NUST;
• To identify the proportions of the population that are
Conclusion: This study identifies the freshmen and senior year most vulnerable to depression;
students as requiring immediate help and also highlights lack of • To evaluate the possible causes of depression.
time management as the major cause of depression.

Keywords—depression, PHQ-9, Rorschach, NUST The methodology employed includes an online

research form. This helped to categorize the population in
terms of age, gender, CGPA, and similar other classes. As a
I. INTRODUCTION
tool, a self-diagnosis test is used. However, some people
Depression is a typical mental issue that presents may have issues in identifying or diagnosing themselves.
with discouraged state of mind, loss of delight, guilt or low Therefore, a psychological test is also used that would aid a
self-esteem, abnormal sleeping and eating routines, and lack psychologist in the diagnosis. The self-diagnosis test
of focus. An approximate of 350 million people are said to employed is a standardized test known as “Patient Health
be affected by depression [1]. Questionnaire” (PHQ-9) and “Rorschach Test” is the
psychological test. The Rorschach test has been utilized to
Depression during college life leads to additional detect underlying thought disorder, particularly in situations
stress. This, in turn, affects the studies, extra-curricular where patients are hesitant to portray their thinking
activities, and social life of a student. The disease pattern processes openly.
has started to shift from communicable to non-
communicable diseases. Every year, depression is prevailing
among college students. At the college level, the academic II. METHODS
burden is increasing day by day and at each progressive
level. When students leave their homes for the first time, A. Type of Research Method
they try to adjust to complex life changes. They try to Due to the shortage of resources and available
calibrate themselves to an entirely new environment. This time, we decided to conduct a survey instead of interview or
time, they do not have their guardians to guide them through observation. The survey form was distributed using email
or alleviate the intensity of their challenges. Students, for and social media. Most of the questions in the survey form
the first time, start to live independently and form new were multiple choice or required the user to rate on a scale.
relationships. Some people start to realize the financial There were 20 questions in the form, each carefully chosen
constraints on their families and the restrictions these to answer the questions we put forward.
constraints may place on their regular activities. Those
students who are not able to cope up with these changes The survey form started with collection of general
have a risk of undergoing depression. Depression itself is a data such as gender, age, school, degree, CGPA and year of
proven risk factor for antisocial behavior, absenteeism, degree. Then, there were 9 questions based on a self-
diagnostic test to identify the presence of depression and
PHQ-9 Questions Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior
I find little interest or pleasure in doing things. 2.2 1.8 2.14 2.36
I feed sad and hopeless about the future. 2.3 2.2 2.28 2.31
I have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or sleeping too much. 2.3 1.8 2.21 2.59
I feel tired or lack energy. 2 1.8 2.07 2.67
I eat very little or much more than I used to. 2.7 2.4 2.07 2.65
I feel bad about myself - that I am a failure and have let me and my
parents down. 2.3 2 2.21 2.13
I have trouble concentrating on enjoyable things such as watching
Netflix. 2.3 2.2 2.07 2
I feel fidgety and restless e.g. I move around a lot or shake my legs
when sitting. 2.5 2.2 2.21 2.31
I think that I bring no value to the people around me and they
would be better off without me. 2.7 2.8 2.14 2.13

Table 1: Average scores of different questions by all batches

measure its severity. There were also 3 questions to test the

perception of the participants and 8 other questions to
evaluate the factors which may lead to depression. III. MATERIALS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From table 2, it can be seen that more than half the
B. Sampling Technique population falls in the category of mild or moderate
To best answer the questions under investigation, we depression while more than a quarter of the population had
decided to use stratified sampling. The undergraduate been dealing with more severe level of depression.
students of NUST campus were divided into strata based on
their year of degree. Participation in the survey was
voluntary for the recipients of the form. Severity of Depression Percentage of Population

C. Research Tool Normal 11.7

The self-diagnostic test we used was the “Patient Health Mild 23.4
Questionnaire” (PHQ-9). The validity and reliability of
PHQ-9 test has been established by the ‘American Moderate 31.2
Psychological Association’. A Study [3] reported that PHQ- Moderately Severe 20.1
9 score above 10 had 88% specificity and sensitivity making
it a valid criterion for diagnosis of depression and Severe 13
measurement of its severity. There are 9 questions in this Table 2: Spread of depression among population
test with response range of 1-4, where 1 means
“occasionally” and 4 means “Mostly”. The result of these
questions is mapped onto a scale to determine the presence ` From table 1, containing average scores of different
as well as the severity of depression. strata, higher score in a question indicates greater severity.
On average, the score on almost all the questions is higher
To further reinforce the validity of the self- for the freshman year and senior year students as compared
diagnostic test, we included 3 questions of Rorschach test, a to the other years. But in the last question, the level of
psychological test, as well. This test is qualitative and is severity for the sophomore year is slightly higher than
used just to support the results of the PHQ-9 test. This test is freshman year. This has been considered an anomaly and the
second most widely used by members of Society for question is not considered in our findings.
Personality Assessment [4].
To better understand the result in table 1, we use
the PHQ-score to map the results of this test onto a scale
which is provided in figure 1. Is clear from the chart that the
level of depression is higher near the starting and ending
year of the degree. The situation of the first year students
can be explained by the fact that they are relatively new to
the semester system and have not settled in.
 Figure 3: Responses of freshman year students for
image in figure 2.

Figure 1: Severity of depression in each college year

After the first year, there is a sudden drop in

severity of depression. This can be explained through the
observation and experience that fear is the worst part. Once
they get over the initial fear and learn to manage
themselves, they are a lot calmer.
Moving from sophomore to junior and senior year,
Figure 5: Responses of senior year students for
there is a steady rise in depressive behaviour. It can be
image in figure 2.
attributed to two factors; The difficulty level of various
courses increases through the years and students realize that
they need to make something of themselves to stand tall in
the world outside the gates of the university.

Figure 4: Responses of sophomore and junior year

for image in figure 2.

Figure 2: Image from Rorschach test

Table 3 correlates the severity of depression with the
various academic factors. The results of degree satisfaction
are not conclusive. The students with better time and stress
This trend indicated by the results of the PHQ-9 test has management are generally less depressed than the others.
been reinforced by the result of the Rorschach test. For the The students not satisfied with teaching method were found
image in figure 2, the responses of students of all years are to be generally more depressed. Students facing difficulty in
indicated in figure 3,4 and 5. financing their education were little more depressed. This is
in contrast to the results of [5] where they found that students
with financial strain were less depressed. The students who
were unable to manage their time before an exam were
significantly more depressed than the others. In the light of
this table, we can rank the factors according to their
correlation with depression from most significant to least
significant. Lack of time for preparation of exam is the most
significant factor, followed by financial strain, study load,
dissatisfaction with teaching method and dissatisfaction with
degree.
 Severity of Depression

Normal Mild ModerateModerately Severe Severe

Academic Factors
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Satisfied with degree No 9.09 30.3 21.21 21.212 18.181

Yes 17.142 14.28571 48.571 20 0

I have enough time for studies No 4.347 21.7391 32.6086 23.9130 17.391

Yes 19.047 23.8095 38.09 9.5238 9.523

I am satisfied with the teaching method/mode No 5.17 22.413 37.9310 22.413 12.068

Yes 100 0 0 0 0

My daily activities suffer because of study load. No 9.375 28.125 43.75 12.5 6.25

Yes 8.823 20.588 29.411 26.4705 14.705

I am able to meet the finances of study. No 0 47.619 9.5238 23.8095 19.047

Yes 12.5 16.67 41.667 16.67 12.5

I have ample time to prepare for exams. No 4.651 32.55 23.255 25.581 13.953

Yes 16.67 4.1667 50 12.5 16.667

Table 3: Effect of different factors on depression

The study revealed that the students least depressed used Limitations of the study
social media the least. This result can be deduced from table This study was carried out 3 weeks before the end semester
4. Students with severe depression also used social media exams. This may affect the results of the study as majority of
sparingly. The students who used Facebook the most had the students might be overburdened with exam preparation
moderate form of depression while the ones that used and project submissions. This study can be carried out in the
Instagram the most suffered from a moderately severe form. beginning of the semester as well and results can be
This finding can be understood in the light of the fact that compared.
Instagram is a service known for sharing images. Everything
is exaggerated and people only show the good things in their IV. CONCLUSION
lives. Facebook is used more for sharing information.
Seeing other people living their lives to the fullest may
cause others grief. The statistics reveal that students in the first and
final years of their degree have the highest degree of
depression. This can be explained by the fact that freshmen
Moderat students are new to the university environment and have a
Normal Mild Moderate ely Severe hard time trying to adjust to the conditions they are not yet
Severe familiar with. Gradually, these freshmen students learn to
tune themselves accordingly. Over time, they develop a
Check
sense of affection with the university environment and by
Facebook 2.4 2.72 3.83 3.3125 3.3
the time they are in their final year, they realize the future
often
challenges that await them. These challenges are far more
Check intensive than the ones they faced during their university
Instagram 3.3 3 3.458 3.8125 3.4 life.
often
Table 4: Relation of severity of depression with use of social The analysis also suggests that lack of time for
media. preparation of exams acts as the most significant factor,
followed by financial strain, study load, dissatisfaction with
teaching method and dissatisfaction with the degree.
Also, the use of social media has a direct relationship with REFERENCES
depression among the undergraduate students of NUST.
Students with the least exposure to social media had the [1] M. Yasamy, “Depression: A global public health concern”.
least depression. The fact that social media leads to a sense [2] S. Kaur, S.S. Deepti, and M.Lal, “Prevalence and Correlates of
of envy among users which further leads to low self-esteem Depression among College going students of District Amritsar,
can act as a plausible reason for the explanation of the trend. India”, Int. Res. J. Medical Sci., Vol. 2(11), 5-9, November (2014),
ISSN 2320 –7353.
[3] “The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. -
Consequently, it is recommended that freshmen PubMed - NCBI.” [Online]. Available:
and seniors should be provided the most help. Students https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11556941. [Accessed: 21-
should be taught to manage time and stress. Additionally, Dec-2019].
students should limit their use of social media and not be [4] “Psychological Testing: Rorschach Inkblot Test.” [Online]. Available:
https://www.mentalhelp.net/psychological-testing/rorschach-inkblot-
discouraged by what they see. A feeling of self- test/. [Accessed: 21-Dec-2019].
complacency should be inculcated in the students. [5] S. Ghayas, S. Shamim, F. Anjum, and M. Hussain, “Prevalence and
Negligence of this problem by the authorities may lead to severity of depression among undergraduate students in Karachi,
deterioration of students’ performance in the future. Pakistan: a cross sectional study,” Trop. J. Pharm. Res., vol. 13, no.
10, p. 1733, Dec. 2014, doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i10.24.