Depressive Symptoms among Undergraduate Nursing Students in Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Depression is increasingly prevalent among university students, leading to poor academic performance. Research has identified the prevalence, and several factors linked to depression among nursing students, but there is a limited study available in the Indonesian context. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and examine the demographic characteristics relationship of depressive symptoms in undergraduate nursing students in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Methods: The design of the present study was descriptive. The sample size was 385 nursing students, and a simple random sampling was used to recruit respondents. The instrument was the Indonesian version of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R). Data was collected in June 2024 using a Google form. The data analysis used included frequency, percentage, and Chi-square tests. Results: This study found that the highest proportion were aged between 17 and 20 years (60.3%) with a mean age of 20.1 ± 1.39 years, in the first academic year (30.6%), and women (91.4%). The mean score of depressive symptoms was 20.36 ± 16.52, and more nursing students indicated no depression disorder (58.4%) than depression disorder (41.6%). The study found no relationship between depressive symptoms and demographic characteristics (age, academic year, and gender) with a p-value > 0.05. Conclusion: The present study shows that the prevalence of depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students at the university tends to be high. Therefore, students need to be given education and practice on how to deal with stress and the potential for depression and provide health assistance when students need it.