Mood Emot.  2021 Nov;19(3):85-93. 10.35986/me.2021.19.3.85.

Stress Coping and Resilience in College Students with Depression

• Kim D
• Yoon BH
• Sea YH
• Kang H
• Kim K
• Song JH
• Park S

• KMID: 2525661
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.35986/me.2021.19.3.85

Abstract

Background
Depression is increasing among college students in general. Moreover, almost one-third of college students have been reported to suffer from depression. Thus, this study aimed to assess differences in stress coping strategies and resilience between depressed and normal-mood groups among college students.
Methods
A total of 3,306 college students participated in this study. The students responded to a questionnaire that included questions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, stress coping scale (SCS), and brief resilience scale. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of variables on depression.
Results
Using the CES-D (cutoff score ≥21), 423 (12.8%) college students were classified as depressed. Adjusting for individual demographic factors, the SCS results of the students with depression showed significantly higher scores in emotion-focused coping (p<0.001), wishful thinking (p<0.001), and lower problem-focused coping (p<0.001) than the normal-mood group. Moreover, they presented lower resilience scores. Students who had emotion-focused coping (odds ratio [OR], 1.11; p<0.001) and lower resilience scores (OR, 0.76; p<0.001) were associated with higher CES-D scores.
Conclusion
The study findings revealed significant differences between the depressed and normal-mood groups in terms of stress coping skills and resilience, suggesting the need for promoting stress coping strategies and resilience to lower depression-related problems among college students.

Keyword

Depression; Coping skills; Resilience; psychological; Health services; student