Depression Among First-Year Undergraduate Students in a Public University in West Bengal

The present research seeks to study the prevalence of depression among first-year undergraduate students in a public university in West Bengal, and to examine the association between first-year undergraduate students' depression and some of their socio-demographic variables, that is, gender, religion, stream, living arrangement and habitat. A sample size of 141 students were studied using cross-sectional survey design. The results revealed that the highest number of students were in moderate levels of depression, followed by normal, mild, severe and extremely severe levels. There was no statistically significant relationship between depression and the socio-demographic variables namely, gender, religion, living arrangement and habitat. However, there was only a minor and significant association between stream and depression among first-year undergraduate students.