0051/2021 - Association between social capital indicators and depressive symptoms among Brazilian university students
Associação entre indicadores de capital social e sintomas depressivos entre estudantes universitários brasileiros
Publicado
Autor:
• Insa Backhaus - Backhaus, I. - <insa.backhaus@uniroma1.it>ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5638-9057
Coautor(es):
• Carolina Borges - Borges, C. - <borgesc@tcnj.edu>ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0436-4699
• Alice de Paula Baer - Baer, A. de Paula - <alice.baer@fm.usp.br>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8788-6240
• Luciana Zaranza Monteiro - Monteiro, L.Z - <lucianazaranza@hotmail.com>
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7484-1185
• Giuseppe La Torre - La Torre, G. - <giuseppe.latorre@uniroma1.it>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1233-2040
• Andrea Ramirez Varela - Varela, A. R. - <aravamd@gmail.com>
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2685-9617
Resumo:
Objective: The study aimed to investigate the association between social capital indicators and depressive symptoms among university studentsBrazil.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 579 randomly ed university students, in 2018. Students completed self-administered questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms, indicators of social capital and lifestyle behaviors. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression models. Indicators of social capital included among other trust, group membership and frequency of meeting friends.
Results: Four social capital indicators were significantly associated with clinically relevant depressive symptoms. Students who agreed that people are likely to take advantage of one another were more likely to report depressive clinically relevant symptoms (OR: 1.80, 95%CI: 1.00 – 3.23) as well as students who agreed that people are not willing to help in case needed (OR: 2.11, 95%CI: 1.02 – 4.36). Perceived stress, smoking and hazardous alcohol consumption were not associated with clinically relevant depressive symptoms.
Conclusions: Social capital plays an important role in explaining depressive symptoms among Brazilian university students. The study suggests that creating trust and enhancing participation in social networks can be an important strategy for promoting mental health among university students investigated in this study.
