DEPRESSÃO E SINTOMAS VEGETATIVOS EM UNIVERSITÁRIOS

Abstract

Depression is a mental disorder that affects the individual as a whole, leading to cognitive, motor, social, vegetative impairments, mood changes and anxiety. This article aimed to investigate the incidence of depressive symptoms and somatic complaints in university students. We also sought to investigate differences in averages in relation to gender and course, in addition to identifying whether the presence of a pet and living or not in the city where one studies may be associated with depressive symptoms. 271 university students participated in the research, 57.6% of whom were women. Regarding housing, 57.4% live in the same city where they study and 74.2% live with a pet. The application was carried out in person in the university environment. Two instruments were used, namely the Vegetative Symptoms Questionnaire and the Baptista Depression Scale, Adult version – EBADEP-A. It was found that 74.3% of the sample had no depressive symptoms or had minimal symptoms, 12.2% had mild symptoms, 11.2% had moderate symptoms and 2.3% had severe symptoms. Furthermore, statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between men and women in all EBADEP-A scores. Significant correlation coefficients were observed between general depressive symptoms and feelings of weakness, changes in sleep, changes in diet, restlessness, lack of energy and dizziness. Therefore, the importance of expanding the psychosocial support network is clear, so that the necessary intervention can be carried out in time and can improve the quality of life of university students.