Factors Associated With Depressive Symptoms Among Graduate Students in Science and Technology: A Cross-Sectional...

Depression among graduate students is a growing concern, according to the WHO. However, existing literature lacks multivariable analysis focused specifically on the graduate student populations. This study addresses this gap by investigating the factors contributing to depressive symptoms among science and technology graduate students.

A cross-sectional study was conducted after ethics committee approval among 387 consenting graduate students selected using stratified random sampling from all 13 departments at the Institute of Science and Technology (IOST), Tribhuvan University (TU), Nepal. The data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire, verifying the outcome variable depression by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale (no/low depressive symptoms: 0-9 points; moderate/severe depressive symptoms: 10-27 points). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with moderate/severe depressive symptoms, calculating the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI).

The prevalence of moderate/severe depressive symptoms among graduate students was 23% (95% CI: 19-27). Statistically significant (p  < 0.05) associated factors were financial stress (OR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.30-4.26), relationship dissolution (OR: 2.22, 95% CI: 1.06-4.63), stressful assignments (OR: 5.09, 95% CI: 2.31-11.26), medium self-esteem (OR: 4.73, 95% CI: 2.43-9.18), and low self-esteem (OR: 10.21, 95% CI: 4.71-22.11).

The unique contributors to depressive symptoms identified in this study through multivariable analysis, adjusting for confounding, emphasize the need for targeted mental health support among science and technology graduate students.