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

Publisher: Wiley Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 9708816 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1520-6394 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10914269 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Depress Anxiety Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: New York, NY : Wiley, c1997-

Depression*/epidemiology ; Depression*/psychology ; Students*/psychology ; Students*/statistics & numerical data ; Technology*/education; Nepal/epidemiology ; Education, Graduate/statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Multivariate Analysis ; Universities ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

Background: 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.
Methods: 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).
Results: 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).
Conclusion: 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.
(Copyright © 2025 Saphal Chapagai et al. Depression and Anxiety published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Erratum in: Depress Anxiety. 2026 Feb 22;2026:9786494. doi: 10.1155/da/9786494.. (PMID: 41737355)

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Keywords: depressive symptoms; graduate students; multivariable logistic regression

Date Created: 20251222 Date Completed: 20251222 Latest Revision: 20260320

20260320

PMC12714082

10.1155/da/8886228

41425664