Naslov
The effects of depressive symptoms on academic achievement and adjustment to college

Autori
Živčić-Bećirević, Ivanka ; Smojver-Ažić, Sanja ; Martinac Dorčić, Tamara

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
16th European Congress of Psychology (ECP 2019)

Mjesto i datum
Moskva, Ruska Federacija, 02.07.2019. - 05.07.2019

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
depression, university students, academic achievement, adjustment to college

Sažetak
The prevalence of depression among university students is pretty high with increase in recent years (Eisenberg et al., 2017). Student mental health problems are strong negative predictors of academic outcomes (Khubchandani et al., 2016). The main goal of this prospective study is to test the effects of depression on student academic success and adjustment. The representative sample of 492 undergraduate students (60% females) from various study programmes completed Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ, Baker & Siryk, 1999) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II, Beck, Steer & Brown, 2011) and are followed during three academic years. Academic achievement was measured by cumulative grade point average (GPA), number of academic credit points (ECTS) and student efficacy status after 3 years (finishing undergraduate study on time, repeating a year, dropped-out). The results showed that 23% of all the freshmen have increased level of depressive symptoms (26% of students who stayed at home and 17% of those who changed residence). The level of depressive symptoms was not correlated with GPA, but it was negatively correlated with the number of ECTS achieved at the 3rd year, indicating poor efficiency of depressed students. The students who dropped-out from college do not differ from those who stayed in their initial level of depression, but they have increased level of depressive symptoms on the second year. A significantly higher percentage of students with a high level of depression dropped out from college or repeated a year, comparing to those with a low level of depressive symptoms. The students with more depressive symptoms also had worse academic, emotional and social adjustment at the beginning and during their study. We can conclude that students with a higher level of depressive symptoms are more prone to poor academic efficiency and higher drop-out, as well as low adjustment to college. It is important to early detect students with increased level of depressive symptoms and help them cope and facilitate their successful study.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija

POVEZANOST RADA