Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among matriculated university students in Singapore during Covid-19 pandemic: findings from a repeated cross-sectional analysis

Yeo, Pearlie Mei En; Qin, Vicky Mengqi; Ang, Chin-Siang; Chia, Michael; Ho, Ringo Moon-Ho; Ho, Andy Hau Yan; Car, Josip

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-17866-7

Table 2 Sociodemographic characteristics of student participants

From: Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among matriculated university students in Singapore during Covid-19 pandemic: findings from a repeated cross-sectional analysis

	2020 (N = 8,405)									2021 (N = 6,772)
	Total		NDS		MDS		MSDS		P value	Total		NDS		MDS		MSDS		P value
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	P value	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	P value
Age, mean (SD)⁺	21.9	4.20	21.9	4.23	20.8	3.16	20.3	1.91	0.067^§	22.2	4.85	22.2	4.9	21.4	4.2	20.1	1.99	0.164^§
Gender
Female	4,208	50.10	4,050	49.60	98	60.50	60	71.40	< 0.001	3,123	46.10	3,005	45.60	68	61.30	50	73.50	< 0.001
Male	4,197	49.90	4,109	50.40	64	39.50	24	28.60		3,649	53.90	3,588	54.40	43	38.70	18	26.50
Ethnicity
Chinese	7,055	83.90	6,859	84.10	134	82.70	62	73.80	0.056	5,797	85.60	5,662	85.90	84	75.70	51	75.00	< 0.001
Malay	300	3.60	289	3.50	4	2.50	7	8.30		315	4.70	296	4.50	11	9.90	8	11.80
Indian	597	7.10	578	7.10	13	8.00	6	7.10		382	5.60	374	5.70	6	5.40	2	2.90
other	453	5.40	433	5.30	11	6.80	9	10.70		278	4.10	261	4.00	10	9.00	7	10.30
Residency status
Citizen	5,115	60.90	4,909	60.20	132	81.50	74	88.10	< 0.001	5,174	76.40	5,022	76.20	92	82.90	60	88.20	0.01
Permanent Resident	456	5.40	446	5.50	5	3.10	5	6.00		396	5.80	383	5.80	9	8.10	4	5.90
Foreigner	2,834	33.70	2,804	34.40	25	15.40	5	6.00		1,202	17.70	1,188	18.00	10	9.00	4	5.90
Study level
Undergraduate	5,711	67.90	5,486	67.20	144	88.90	81	96.40	< 0.001	5,000	73.80	4,842	73.40	94	84.70	64	94.10	< 0.001
Postgraduate	2,694	32.10	2,673	32.80	18	11.10	3	3.60		1,772	26.20	1,751	26.60	17	15.30	4	5.90
Major
Social Science	3,780	45.00	3,665	44.90	69	42.60	46	54.80	0.133	3,187	47.10	3,091	46.90	56	50.50	40	58.80	0.027
Medicine & Science	1,254	14.90	1,218	14.90	21	13.00	15	17.90		1,139	16.80	1,105	16.80	18	16.20	16	23.50
Engineering	3,371	40.10	3,276	40.20	72	44.40	23	27.40		2,446	36.10	2,397	36.40	37	33.30	12	17.60
Accommodation
Off-campus	5,674	67.51	5,518	67.63	98	60.49	58	69.05	0.151	5,597	82.65	5,445	82.59	102	91.89	50	73.53	0.005
On-campus	2,731	32.49	2,641	32.37	64	39.51	26	30.95		1,175	17.35	1,148	17.41	9	8.11	18	26.47

Note: ⁺ The sample size for calculating the age mean was 8,363 for 2020 and 6,754 for 2021. Due to the collinearity of age and study level, we did not control for age in the later regression analysis, therefore we did not remove samples that have only missing on age data. ^§P value was generated based on one-way ANOVA test. P values that are significant were bolded. NDS = No depressive symptom; MDS = Mild depressive symptoms; MSDS = moderate to severe depressive symptoms

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ISSN: 1471-2458

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