Articles

The Correlation between Study Behavior and Depression among Thai and International High School Students in Bangkok

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Depression significantly impacts people’s behavior and relationships with their loved ones by negatively influencing their emotions and actions. In Bangkok, there is an increasing prevalence of depression among Thai and international high school students due to variances in study habits. Thus, we conducted cross-sectional survey research to determine the correlation between study behavior and depression in Thai high school students. An online questionnaire was employed in this study to gather information on the study habits, including time management, of Thai and international students. To determine if study habits among Thai and international students are associated with depression, we employed the standard deviation, Ttest, and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. According to the information we have obtained, we have discovered that Thai high school students are more likely than international students to experience depression, which strongly shows that their academic curriculum is significantly more strenuous and stressful (p-value of 5.58). The outcomes of this study should aid in advancements in education and mental health research by promoting therapies, educational practices, and interventions by analyzing teenage problems, academic stress, and mental health.

The Relationship between Intensity of Gadget Use with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Students in Metro, Lampung, Indonesia

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The number of gadget users (smartphones) globally is increasing yearly. Gadgets are also used as learning media and entertainment for students, so the possibility of negative impacts from using gadgets cannot be avoided. This study aims to analyze the relationship between the intensity of gadget use and depression, anxiety, and stress in students. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 461 students recruited using a multistage random sampling technique, from six public high schools (SMAN) in Metro, Lampung, Indonesia, from February to May 2023. The instruments used were the gadget usage intensity questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS)—analysis with a Chi-Square correlation test. The results of the study show that there is a significant relationship between the intensity of gadget use and depression (ρ-value < 0.001), anxiety (ρ-value < 0.001), and stress (ρ-value < 0.001). This study concludes that the intensity of using gadgets is related to depression, anxiety and stress in high school students in Metro City, Lampung, Indonesia. It is recommended that schools carry out outreach and education to students to be wiser in using gadgets and to follow up on respondents who experience health problems with depression, anxiety, and stress by coordinating with parents so that they can receive further treatment at health care facilities.

A Questionnaire Based Study to Evaluate the Prevalence of Mental Stress among Undergraduates in an Engineering College in South Gujarat, India

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Background: In the last few years, there has been an increase in mental stress and consequently mental illness and suicide rates worldwide. Young adults entering college are one of the most vulnerable population due to the major transition from teenage to adulthood. This study evaluates the prevalence of mental stress among the engineering college students.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey conducted in an engineering college after obtaining approval from the institutional ethical board and the Dean of the college. The questionnaire was distributed online via Google form links using a non-probability sampling approach. The questionnaire contained two parts – first part contained questions regarding the demographic details of the students and the second part contained ten multiple-choice questions to assess the mental health of students. The questions were inspired from the questionnaires available online from previous studies on similar topics as well as by patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) which is used for screening and diagnosing individuals with anxiety, stress and depression. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze and report results.

Results: A total of 246 completely filled questionnaires were evaluated. The age range of study population was from 17 to 26 years with mean age being 20.85 ± 3.16 years. 61.79% were male. Approximately half of the study population showed some symptoms of mental stress and depression such as little interest in doing things, difficulty sleeping or concentrating, change in eating habits and being fidgety or slow. 48.78% students felt bad about themselves and 19.51% had thoughts of self-harm several days a week. Majority of the students believed that mental health awareness programs will be beneficial for their psychological well-being.

Conclusion: The prevalence of stress among the engineering college students was quite high. Various measures such as awareness, counseling, and mentorship program, as well as reducing their academic burden may help them to cope with stress in a better way.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Pregnant Women in Preventing Postpartum Depression

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Postpartum depression is a harmful depression risk; if not treated properly, it can have bad consequences for both mother and child. Hence, efforts are needed to prevent postpartum depression in pregnant women. This article aims to describe and find out the effect of self-help psychological intervention on the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women in preventing postpartum depression. This article was quantitative research with a quasi-experimental model. The study population was 155 pregnant women in the Darussalam Public Health Center working area in Aceh Besar, 2021. The sample was 74 respondents, with 37 in the intervention group and 37 in the control group. Data was collected using The Knowledge about Postpartum Depression Questionnaire (KPPD-Q) and Attitudes Toward Postpartum questionnaires. This study found that the self-help psychological intervention significantly affects the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women (p-value = 0.000 <0.05). Also, there were significant differences in knowledge and attitudes between the intervention. This study concluded that Self-help Psychological interventions could ascend pregnant women's knowledge and attitudes toward preventing postpartum depression. Respondents' age, education level, and gestational age are the driving factors for increasing knowledge and attitudes.

The Effect of Depression on Motivation to Study

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To obtain information about the correlation between depression and motivation to study and identify any correlation between the questions in the survey to gain more insight into the studying habits and reasons for secondary students’ motivations

Methods: a cross-sectional survey with a structured questionnaire was selected to use for data collection. Recruitment was on a voluntary basis, all participants were randomly selected and in similar age groups; however, there were varieties in gender and school systems. To test whether two variables correlate, we conduct a cross-sectional survey study. Our questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, all which have been approved by 3 experts. The sampling participants were chosen from a range of schools throughout the Bangkok province, including government schools, private schools, and international schools. The sampling participants were in grade 10-12. A total of 180 students participated in the study and completed the survey. The Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 28.0 (SPSS) was used to determine the correlation between depression and achievement motivation in the responses. It revealed that there is a negative correlation between depression and motivation to study, r(180)=-.567, p<.001.

The general trend illustrates that the traits most commonly attributed to depression cause a general decline in intrinsic motivation, more specifically, motivation to study. Furthermore, there is a clear increasing trend in depression amongst Thai teens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is crucial to continue monitoring statistics regarding motivation as the data could be significant in designing policies regarding mental health and used for parents to understand their children more completely as well.

 

Sleeping Disorders as a Symptom of Depression

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Recently, people pay less attention to their sleep since there are a lot of stimulants to keep them awake more than sleeping. According to many reports, the results have shown that many are facing a serious condition, which is sleeping disorder.  This condition is related to sleep and affects the ability to sleep well on a regular basis. It is a serious problem that if left untreated, the condition can lead to many more severe problems. There is a significant correlation between sleeping disorder and depression which is called “bidirectional relationship”. The studies show that sleeping disorders are a “symptom” of almost all types of depression such as Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder and so forth. On the other hand, depression itself can also be a cause of sleeping disorders. In addition, the studies show chronic sleep deprivation can cause the changes in Serotonin, which is the brain’s neurotransmitter, and will have a chance to lead to depression greater than acute sleep deprivation. As a result, people should raise awareness in sleeping and usually examine their sleep. To have less chance of depression, a person requires a healthy sleep period and effective care.