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Ethnicity And Depression Among Maritime University Students In Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

A. Steenbeek ,
D. Langille ,
K. Wilson  and
A. Muir
A. Steenbeek*
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Nursing, Halifax, Canada
D. Langille
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Community Health and Epidemiology Halifax, Canada
K. Wilson
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Community Health and Epidemiology Halifax, Canada
A. Muir
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Community Health and Epidemiology Halifax, Canada
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Depression is among the most common mental illnesses in Canada. Although many factors contribute to depression, stress is among the most commonly reported. Studies suggest that marginalized groups often experience high levels of stress.

Objective

To examine associations between ethnicity and depressive symptoms among university students.

Aim

To identify if ethnic groups, particularly Aboriginal students, are at greater risk of depression.

Methods

Online survey data were collected from students attending eight universities in the Canadian Maritime Provinces (n = 10,180). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 12-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Ethnicity was organized into five groups: Caucasian only, Aboriginal only, Aboriginals with other ethnicities, Mixed Ethnicity (not including Aboriginal), and Other (single ethnicity not including Aboriginal or Caucasian). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess associations between ethnicity and elevated depressive symptoms. Adjusted models accounted for demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioural characteristics.

Results

In adjusted analyses for men, Mixed (OR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.12–3.63) and Other ethnic students (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.11–1.96) were more likely to have elevated depressive symptoms than Caucasians. There were no differences between those who were Aboriginal and those who were Caucasian. In unadjusted and adjusted analyses for women, depressive symptoms in ethnic groups (including Aboriginals) were not significantly different from Caucasians.

Conclusion

Among male university students in the Maritime, ethnicity (other than being Aboriginal) was associated with depressive symptoms in comparison to Caucasians, after adjusting for covariates. However, among women, ethnicity was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
EV546
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 33 , Issue S1: Abstracts of the 24th European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2016 , pp. S423 - S424
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2016
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