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Research: Depression and anxiety prevelance

Posted: 12/12/2024

University students experience high rates of depression and anxiety, with levels higher than those of U.S. students. Risk factors include financial stress, lack of support, first-year status, body image issues, and study hours, with domestic students being more affected than international students. Depressive symptoms and stress were linked to unhealthy behaviours, such as skipping breakfast and poor sleep quality. Despite adequate access to medical and support services, concerns about stigma, privacy, and anonymity in seeking counselling were noted. Monitoring, peer support, culture change, mental health literacy, support services, and destigmatizing counselling are important.

Hussain, R., Guppy, M., Robertson, S. et al. Physical and mental health perspectives of first year undergraduate rural university students. BMC Public Health, 2013. (link)

Lovell, G. P., Nash, K., Sharman, R., & Lane, B. R., A cross-sectional investigation of depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms and health-behavior participation in Australian university students. Nursing & health sciences, 2015. (link)

Schofield, M. J., O’halloran, P., Mclean, S. A., Forrester‐knauss, C., & Paxton, S. J., Depressive Symptoms Among Australian University Students: Who Is at Risk? Australian Psychologist, 2016. (link)

Larcombe, W., Finch, S., Sore, R., Murray, C. M., Kentish, S., Mulder, R. A., … Williams, D. A., Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychological distress among students at an Australian university. Studies in Higher Education, 2014. (link)

Farrer, L.M., Gulliver, A., Bennett, K. et al. Demographic and psychosocial predictors of major depression and generalised anxiety disorder in Australian university students. BMC Psychiatry, 2016. (link)

More Articles in Healthy Campus Projects

Research: Can Exercise Improve Stress, Recovery and Academic Performance for University Students?

Posted: 02/12/2025

University students often face high stress and long periods of sedentary study, yet little is known about how daily physical activity influences their stress and academic functioning. This research explored how leisure-time exercise and short activity breaks relate to stress, recovery and perceived study performance among 57 university students over a ten-day home-study period. The […]

Research: Wellbeing At Risk: How Student Health Behaviours Are Shifting

Posted: 02/12/2025

The transition into university is a period of major lifestyle change, yet limited evidence has tracked how student health behaviours and mental wellbeing are shifting over time. This research examined trends in diet, physical activity, sleep, sedentary behaviour and substance use, alongside psychological distress, in first-year Australian university students across four cohorts from 2016 to […]

Research: Understanding Food Insecurity and Diet Quality In Australian University Students

Posted: 02/12/2025

Food insecurity is an increasing issue in Australian higher education, yet its broader impact on student wellbeing is still not well understood. This research investigated how food insecurity, diet quality, physical activity and social connectedness relate to depressive symptoms in 145 University of Canberra students, using validated measures to capture post-pandemic health and wellbeing patterns. […]

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