Every year, campus communities become more aware that student mental health is a concern, particularly as we see national and international trends in self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety continuing to rise. In a recent (pre-COVID) study, Dr. Andrea Howard (from the Department of Psychology) with her colleagues, decided to take a closer look at changes in symptoms of depression across the first year of university and whether symptoms were linked over time to stress and academic demands. In two separate groups of students at two universities, depressive symptoms peaked toward the end of the first semester before declining. Symptoms were also highest at times of high stress and academic demands.
You can read more about what our findings mean here: https://educationnewscanada.com/article/education/category/0/140/706931/Students-depressive-symptoms-peak-at-certain-times-of-the-year-new-research-shows.html.
The full article is available here: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0822-9