Depression Predicts Substance Use among Forcibly Displaced Migrants: A Quantitative Study among Refugees Living in Mbarara City, Southwestern Uganda

Background: Depression has been recorded among forcibly displaced populations especially refugees. Conditions in which refugees find themselves make them predominantly susceptible to substance use as a coping mechanism. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression, substance use and the association between depression and substance use among refugees living in Mbarara city, southwestern Uganda. Methods: African refugees who had settled in Mbarara city for at least twelve months before the study totaling 343 were assessed on the prevalence of depression and substance use. Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) while Substance use was measured using The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-10) for alcohol and The Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20) was used to measure the prevalence of other substances other than alcohol. Using SPSS-V26, descriptive statistics were calculated to determine the prevalence of refugee depression and substance use. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations between the predictor and outcome variables in step1. Results: The prevalence of depression in the current study was 81% (n = 276). There were no gender differences in the prevalence of depression (χ2 = 0.745, p = 0.389). The prevalence of alcohol use was 43% (n = 146). The prevalence of other substance use other than alcohol was 42% (n = 143). Results showed a significant difference between male and females in the use of other substances (χ2 = 8.227, p = 0.042). However, there were no significant differences in alcohol use categories across gender (χ2 = 1.348, p = 0.718). Results indicated that participants who experienced depression were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of alcohol use (p Conclusion: The study results revealed that participants who had depression were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of substance use irrespective of the demographic characteristics. We also recommended that clinical interventions focused on the treatment of depression among refugee communities should focus on substance use as well.