The Effect of School Performance and Stress on Depressive Symptoms Among Youths

서울시내 일부 고등학교 학생들에서 학업성취도가 우울 증상에 미치는 영향

Depression is one of the most common psychologic disorder and dealt as a major public health concern. School students have heavy school work loads and stress from various evaluations representing school performance. In this study, to examine the effect of school performance and stress on depressive symptoms, we assessed the frequency of risk factors for depressive symptoms among 2,717 high school students. From April 2001 to May 2001, using a self-reported questionnaire, we collected data on the frequency of occurrence of depressive symptoms and potential risk factors for depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were measured using Center Epidemiologlc Studies Depression (DES-D) index. Thirty-seven percent of high school students reported having high depressive symptoms for a week Female students had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than males (OR=1.44, 95% CI 1.22-1.70). In a multiple logistic regression model, we found that good perceived school performance (OR=0.43, 95% CI 0.31-0.60) had a negative association with depressive symptoms. On the contrary, we also found that stress from school performance (OR=2.03, 95% CI 1.69-2.44) associated with high depressive symptoms. In conclusion, high school students had a relatively high prevalence of depressive symptoms. Students with stress from school performance had the higher risk for depressive symptoms.