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Abstract

Objectives: To quantify the extent and variation of depression, anxiety and stress among medical and non-medical Saudi Arabian students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, students from Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, were recruited. The Faculty of Education was randomly selected to represent the non-medical colleges. The depression, anxiety and stress scale-21 items (DASS-21) was used to estimate the study outcomes. Results: Of the 465 undergraduates recruited in this study, 49.68% (n=231) were medical students and 50.32% (n=234) were non-medical students. Approximately 54%, 53%, and 38% of the participants were found to be suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. The analyses showed that the two groups did not differ significantly with respect to stress and depression ( p =0.934 and 0.423, respectively). However, the non-medical students exhibited a significantly higher anxiety score compared to the medical students ( p =0.002). Family conflicts was a common risk factor for the studied psychological disturbances. Female gender and travel time from home to university were significant predictors of depression and anxiety, whereas a positive history of a psychological condition increased the likelihood of depression and stress. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of anxiety, stress, and depression among the students, with a significantly higher anxiety levels among the non-medical students.

Article Type

Research Article

First Page

141

Last Page

151

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