A 2-year longitudinal study of the association between unhealthy lifestyle factors and the development of depressive symptoms in university students.

ABSTRACT

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between unhealthy lifestyle factors and the development of depressive symptoms with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics in university students using health checkup data. Methods: Among information obtained from university student health checkups conducted in 2017 and 2019, we analyzed both the clinical data and responses to questionnaires. The subjects used for analysis were 3190 individuals (2382 men and 808 women, mean age 19.0 years) who had been free of depressive symptoms in the 2017 survey and were available for a 2-year follow-up. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) was used as a self-rating scale for depressive symptoms. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association between lifestyle factors (such as body mass index, self-rated health, whether breakfast was taken, degree of exercise, satisfaction with sleep, smoking, and alcohol drinking) in the 2017 survey and any development of depressive symptoms revealed in the 2019 survey, adjusting for sociodemographic variables and other lifestyle factors. Results: Multivariable logistic analysis showed that poor satisfaction with sleep (odds ratio [OR), 4.09; 95% confidence interval [CI), 1.96-8.53; p < 0.01) and female gender (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.01-4.60; p = 0.05) were significantly associated with the development of depressive symptoms 2 years later. Conclusion: This study has revealed an association between poor satisfaction with sleep and the development of depressive symptoms. We believe that these findings may be useful for the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms in university students.