UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ DEPRESSION RISK VARIABLES IN UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, NIGERIA

Abstract

The high rate of depression among undergraduate students has raised deep concerns among counselors and medical practitioners. Thus, this study examined university student depression risk variables. Moderating factors were gender, age, level of study, and parental occupation status. Survey research was descriptive. This survey covered all 55,000 undergraduates at the University of Ilorin. The study included 420 undergraduates sampled using purposive, proportional, and simple random methods. The 1 study used the "Risk Factors for Depression Questionnaire" (RFDQ) to obtain data. Percentages were utilized for demographic data, while mean and rank-order were employed to answer the research question. The t-test and ANOVA were used to test the four null hypotheses at the 0.05 level. The data shows that academic family and psychological factors are the main risk factors for students’ depression. The study found no significant differences in depression risk factors among undergraduates by level of study or parent occupation status, although gender and age revealed a significant difference. Based on the findings, undergraduates should be encouraged to receive adequate medical checkups to ensure cognitive and physical health wellness, regardless of gender, age, level of study, or parental occupation status, to address depression concerns. Mental health counselors should teach in-school adolescents depression prevention and management skills.

Keywords

• depression
• risk variablesk
• ladolescents
• students
• undergraduates