ABSTRACT
@#Depression is the origin of ill health problems in college students. It advances as one of the leading causes of mental health issues. During their college life, freshmen encounter many firsts. These include a new environment, friends, exposure to social norms and culture. The students may struggle and experience difficulty if they cannot deal with these challenges. They can become a vulnerable population. Therefore, the overall purpose of this study is to conduct a baseline assessment of college students' experiences in the university. More so, this study 1) describes the characteristics of a sample of freshmen allied medical sciences students, 2) describes the levels of perceived social support from family and friends, spiritual experiences, and depressive symptomatology among allied medical sciences freshmen; and 3) to assesses the possible association among described positive influences (spirituality, family support, peer support) to depressive symptomatology. The study utilized a cross-sectional analytic quantitative design. In selecting respondents, a consecutive sampling technique was utilized. Respondents eligible to participate included first-year full-time students in the university taking up Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Bachelor of Medical Technologist (BSMT), and Bachelor of Science in Radiological Technologist (BSRT). A total of 110 undergraduate students participated in the study. Most of the students were females younger than 20 years old. The overall perceived social support from family and friends yielded average scores. The higher the scores, the greater the perception of social support from family and friends. For their spirituality, it showed that participants scored lower, indicating a high level of spiritual experiences. Lastly, the depression scale yielded high scores indicating that the participants had signs of severe/major depression, as based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scoring. The relationships between Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-Family) and Friends (PSS-Friends), and Spirituality Experiences were also evaluated. It showed that Depression and PSS-Friends yielded a statistically significant relationship. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between Depression and PSS-Family. For the spirituality experiences, the test revealed that there is also a statistically significant relationship with depression. Overall, the study concludes that college life is a period of increased challenge for young allied medical health students. Their courses accompany complex and challenging responsibilities that increase tensions and anxiety. The results from these processes may cause or worsen stress when not given priority and could lead to depressive symptomatology. It was reflected that freshmen students' peer support and spiritual experiences appear to be closely associated with depressive symptomatology.