Exploring the multifactorial influence of demographic, academic, lifestyle, and psychological factors on student depression

Depression is a common mental health issue of college students, which negatively impacts their academic and social lives and general well-being. This paper examines the following multifactorial links between depression and various demographic, academic, occupation, lifestyle, and psychological factors of a massive student sample. The variables in the analysis are gender, age, academic pressure, CGPA, employment stress, sleeping time, dietary habits and family precedence of mental condition, suicidal thoughts and geographical location. To examine these relationships eight hypotheses were tested with a data set consisting of more than 27,000 students run through logistic regression. Findings show that the most powerful factors such as academic pressure (OR = 2.31, p < 0.001) and suicidal ideation (OR = 12.63, p < 0.001) are related to depression. Gender in this population was not an important predictor contrary to world trends. Having a younger age, having lower CGPA, shorter sleep durations, and poor eating habits were all linked to more probabilities of the occurrence of depression. Some association was also significant with a family history of mental illness (OR = 1.74) and some areas in the city, such as urban areas having an association. Analysis of interaction effect demonstrated that academic pressure increases depression status in students who receive insufficient sleep (interaction b = 0.0412, p < 0.001). So, the overall combined model explained 42.3 percent of the variance of depression results. Such results preach about the interdependence of mental health risk factors within an academic setting. Findings can be used to tailor prevention measures, university counseling, and culturally specific measures to early identify and accommodate potential at-risk students.