Prevalence and risk factors of depressive and anxiety symptoms and functional constipation among university students in Eastern China.

IF 3.4 4区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

World Journal of Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-06-19 DOI:10.5498/wjp.v15.i6.106451

Bo-Chen Jiang, Jing Zhang, Man Yang, Hai-Dong Yang, Xiao-Bin Zhang

{"title":"Prevalence and risk factors of depressive and anxiety symptoms and functional constipation among university students in Eastern China.","authors":"Bo-Chen Jiang, Jing Zhang, Man Yang, Hai-Dong Yang, Xiao-Bin Zhang","doi":"10.5498/wjp.v15.i6.106451","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Depression and anxiety are prevalent among university students worldwide, often coexisting with functional constipation (FC). Family relationships have been identified as crucial factors affecting mental health, yet the gender-specific associations between these conditions remain underexplored.Aim: To assess prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and FC among Chinese university students and explore their associations.Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 12721 students at two universities in Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, and FC using the ROME IV. Gender-stratified analyses and population attributable risk proportions were calculated to evaluate risk factor patterns and population impact.Results: The prevalence of self-reported depressive, anxiety, and comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms was 16.3%, 24.9%, and 13.3%, respectively, whereas that of FC was 22%. Students with depressive symptoms were 1.811 times more likely to have FC than those without. Female gender, parental relationships, and lower household income were significant risk factors for both mental health conditions. For depressive symptoms, females experienced stronger effects from both parental conflict [odds ratio (OR) = 8.006 vs OR = 7.661 in males] and FC (OR = 1.954 vs OR = 1.628 in males). For anxiety symptoms, conflicted parental relationships had stronger effects in males (OR = 5.946) than females (OR = 4.262). Overall, poor parental relationships contributed to 38.6% of depressive and 33.5% of anxiety symptoms.Conclusion: Family relationships significantly impact student mental health, with gender-specific patterns. Targeted interventions addressing family dynamics could reduce mental health burden in university settings.","PeriodicalId":23896,"journal":{"name":"World Journal of Psychiatry","volume":"15 6","pages":"106451"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12188851/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"World Journal of Psychiatry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v15.i6.106451","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Depression and anxiety are prevalent among university students worldwide, often coexisting with functional constipation (FC). Family relationships have been identified as crucial factors affecting mental health, yet the gender-specific associations between these conditions remain underexplored.

Aim: To assess prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and FC among Chinese university students and explore their associations.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 12721 students at two universities in Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, and FC using the ROME IV. Gender-stratified analyses and population attributable risk proportions were calculated to evaluate risk factor patterns and population impact.

Results: The prevalence of self-reported depressive, anxiety, and comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms was 16.3%, 24.9%, and 13.3%, respectively, whereas that of FC was 22%. Students with depressive symptoms were 1.811 times more likely to have FC than those without. Female gender, parental relationships, and lower household income were significant risk factors for both mental health conditions. For depressive symptoms, females experienced stronger effects from both parental conflict [odds ratio (OR) = 8.006 vs OR = 7.661 in males] and FC (OR = 1.954 vs OR = 1.628 in males). For anxiety symptoms, conflicted parental relationships had stronger effects in males (OR = 5.946) than females (OR = 4.262). Overall, poor parental relationships contributed to 38.6% of depressive and 33.5% of anxiety symptoms.

Conclusion: Family relationships significantly impact student mental health, with gender-specific patterns. Targeted interventions addressing family dynamics could reduce mental health burden in university settings.

查看原文本刊更多论文

华东地区大学生抑郁、焦虑症状与功能性便秘的患病率及危险因素

背景：抑郁和焦虑在全球大学生中普遍存在，通常与功能性便秘（FC）并存。家庭关系已被确定为影响心理健康的关键因素，但这些条件之间的具体性别关联仍未得到充分探讨。目的：评估中国大学生抑郁症状、焦虑症状和FC的患病率，并探讨它们之间的联系。方法：采用横断面调查设计，对江苏省和山东省两所高校的12721名学生进行调查。使用患者健康问卷-9评估抑郁症状，使用广泛性焦虑障碍-7量表评估焦虑症状，使用ROME IV评估FC。计算性别分层分析和人群归因风险比例，以评估风险因素模式和人群影响。结果：自我报告的抑郁、焦虑和共病抑郁和焦虑症状的患病率分别为16.3%、24.9%和13.3%，而FC的患病率为22%。有抑郁症状的学生患FC的可能性是没有抑郁症状的学生的1.811倍。女性性别、父母关系和较低的家庭收入是这两种心理健康状况的重要危险因素。对于抑郁症状，女性受到父母冲突[比值比(OR) = 8.006对男性OR = 7.661]和FC （OR = 1.954对男性OR = 1.628）的影响更大。对于焦虑症状，父母关系冲突对男性的影响（OR = 5.946）大于女性（OR = 4.262）。总体而言，不良的父母关系导致了38.6%的抑郁和33.5%的焦虑症状。结论：家庭关系对学生心理健康有显著影响，且存在性别差异。针对家庭动态的有针对性的干预措施可以减轻大学环境中的心理健康负担。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

World Journal of Psychiatry PSYCHIATRY-

自引率

6.50%

发文量

110

期刊介绍： The World Journal of Psychiatry (WJP) is a high-quality, peer reviewed, open-access journal. The primary task of WJP is to rapidly publish high-quality original articles, reviews, editorials, and case reports in the field of psychiatry. In order to promote productive academic communication, the peer review process for the WJP is transparent; to this end, all published manuscripts are accompanied by the anonymized reviewers’ comments as well as the authors’ responses. The primary aims of the WJP are to improve diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive modalities and the skills of clinicians and to guide clinical practice in psychiatry.