Comparisons of health risk behaviours among university students with and without depressive symptoms
| Health and health risk behaviours | Depressive symptoms* | Severe depressive symptoms† | ||||
| No | Yes | P values‡ | No | Yes | P values‡ | |
| Current tobacco smokers | 5 (33.3) | 10 (66.7) | 12 (80.0) | 3 (20.0) | 0.97 | |
| Self-perception regarding alcohol use | 0.25 | 0.004 | ||||
| Non drinker | 425 (50.7) | 413 (49.3) | 681 (81.3) | 157 (18.7) | ||
| Occasional drinker | 247 (47.4) | 271 (52.6) | 412 (78.7) | 106 (21.3) | ||
| Regular drinker | 0 (0.0) | 3 (100) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (100) | ||
| Current illicit drug users | 0 (0.0) | 4 (100) | 0.05 | 1 (25.0) | 3 (75.0) | 0.03 |
| Condom use at last sex | 39 (47.0) | 44 (53.0) | 0.95 | 73 (88.0) | 10 (12.0) | 0.08 |
| Diagnosed with an STI | 4 (40.0) | 6 (60.0) | 0.75 | 110 (84.0) | 21 (16.0) | 0.67 |
| Thought of ending life | 40 (24.8) | 121 (75.2) | <0.001 | 84 (52.2) | 77 (47.8) | <0.001 |
| Attempted to end life | 5 (20.0) | 20 (80.0) | 0.63 | 11 (44.0) | 14 (56.0) | 0.47 |
| Frequency of eating fast food per week | 0.49 | 0.24 | ||||
| 0 time | 410 (49.3) | 421 (50.7) | 679 (81.7) | 152 (18.3) | ||
| 1–2 times | 231 (50.7) | 225 (49.3) | 360 (78.9) | 96 (21.1) | ||
| 3 times or more | 31 (43.1) | 41 (56.9) | 54 (75.0) | 18 (25.0) | ||
| Frequency of daily soft drink consumption | 0.31 | 0.01 | ||||
| 0 time | 105 (46.5) | 121 (53.5) | 178 (78.8) | 48 (21.2) | ||
| 1–2 times | 399 (51.2) | 380 (48.8) | 647 (83.1) | 132 (16.9) | ||
| 3 times or more | 168 (47.5) | 186 (52.5) | 268 (75.7) | 86 (24.3) | ||
| Frequency of weekly high-fat snack consumption | 0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| 0 time | 162 (52.8) | 145 (47.2) | 260 (84.7) | 47 (15.3) | ||
| 1–2 times | 443 (51.0) | 426 (49.0) | 711 (81.8) | 158 (18.2) | ||
| 3 times or more | 67 (36.6) | 116 (63.4) | 122 (66.7) | 61 (33.3) | ||
| Frequency of weekly dessert consumption | 0.003 | 0.008 | ||||
| 0 time | 106 (40.6) | 155 (59.4) | 192 (73.6) | 69 (26.4) | ||
| 1–2 times | 434 (52.7) | 389 (47.3) | 676 (82.1) | 147 (17.9) | ||
| 3 times or more | 132 (48.0) | 143 (52.0) | 225 (81.8) | 50 (18.2) | ||
| Frequency of weekly fruit/vegetable consumption | 0.009 | 0.007 | ||||
| 0 time | 50 (37.3) | 84 (62.7) | 94 (70.1) | 40 (29.9) | ||
| 1–2 times | 390 (51.7) | 365 (48.3) | 617 (81.7) | 138 (18.3) | ||
| 3 times or more | 232 (49.4) | 238 (50.6) | 382 (81.3) | 88 (12.7) | ||
| Frequency of weekly lean protein consumption | <0.001 | 0.03 | ||||
| 0 time | 57 (34.8) | 107 (65.2) | 119 (72.6) | 45 (27.4) | ||
| 1–2 times | 453 (51.8) | 421 (48.2) | 714 (81.7) | 160 (18.3) | ||
| 3 times or more | 162 (50.5) | 159 (49.5) | 260 (81.0) | 61 (19.0) | ||
| Amount of margarine/butter/meat fat consumption | 0.02 | <0.001 | ||||
| None/very little | 296 (52.4) | 269 (47.6) | 471 (83.4) | 94 (16.6) | ||
| Some | 339 (48.7) | 357 (51.3) | 558 (80.2) | 138 (19.8) | ||
| A lot | 37 (37.8) | 61 (62.2) | 64 (65.3) | 34 (34.7) | ||
| Self-perception about body size | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| About right | 275 (55.4) | 221 (44.6) | 428 (86.3) | 68 (13.7) | ||
| Very overweight | 27 (34.2) | 52 (65.8) | 55 (69.6) | 24 (30.4) | ||
| Slightly overweight | 161 (48.9) | 168 (51.1) | 247 (75.1) | 82 (24.9) | ||
| Slightly underweight | 191 (49.6) | 194 (50.4) | 319 (82.9) | 66 (17.1) | ||
| Very underweight | 18 (25.7) | 52 (74.3) | 44 (62.9) | 26 (37.1) | ||
Values are numbers of subjects (%).
*Defined by a Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score of ≥16.
†Defined by a CES-D score of ≥23.
‡χ2 test was used or Fisher’s exact test was used as appropriate.
STI, sexually transmitted infection.